


The Spaces Between the Stars

by ClarionGlass, Trouble_in_Fairyland



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Space Vigilantes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26854969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClarionGlass/pseuds/ClarionGlass, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trouble_in_Fairyland/pseuds/Trouble_in_Fairyland
Summary: Their actions during the Time War led to them becoming banished from their home planets, both hated by the remnants of their own kind. For the last four hundred years, Jackie and the Defier have travelled together, saving lives and fighting injustices throughout the universe. Thanks to them, on thousands of planets the whirred 'Ex. Ter, Min. Ate.' does not bring death, but rather, hope.The Duo's vigilante lifestyle comes under threat when the Doctor finally catches up with them, determined not to allow these criminals to go free.A tale in four parts, updated weekly: summary will be updated as more details are revealed)Part 1: The Doctor's ApprenticeThe festivities were going better than the Doctor and Patience had dared to imagine (considering the guest list) before they were interrupted by the Deca's most powerful enemy.With their surrogate and biological children trapped inside a sadistic Toyroom, the Deca will do whatever it takes to bring them home.Nothing will ever be the same again.Very loosely based on Gary Russel's 'Divided Loyalties'.
Relationships: Original Timelord Characters & Original Dalek Characters, The Doctor & Original Time Lord Character(s), The Doctor | Theta Sigma & The Master | Koschei (Doctor Who: Academy Era)
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue Part 1

The Doctor clutched the TARDIS railing as if somehow, it could take the pain away. As if it could somehow bring her back. As if it could somehow bring all of them back.

But of course it couldn’t. Nothing could.

Jenny. His precious girl. He’d known her such a short time, and he’d spent most of it spitting in her face. Poor, dear, Jenny. She hadn’t deserved to be treated so badly. None of them had. None of the legions of people he’d strung along with him and led into destruction.

He knew that every one of them had made their own decision.

Perhaps if he’d been someone worth dying for, it wouldn’t be so hard. But he hadn’t. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so cruel…

And then, even worse, were the ones he’d forced away. 

_ Never cruel, nor cowardly _ . The promise he’d made so long ago echoed in his ears, damning him. He’d been both, so many times, he’d been both.

He knew Donna and Martha would be back in any minute. He’d left them on Messaline to handle the final negotiations between the Hath and the humans. They were more than capable. They’d be walking through those doors any second, and he didn’t want them to find him like this.

But alas, it was too late. That instant, the door creaked open.”Doctor?” he heard Martha call. “Doctor, where are you—Oh!”

She recovered quickly from the sight of him slumped over the railing—she was a Doctor, after all. 

“Doctor,” Donna murmured, moving to take his arm, “Why don’t you sit down?” Without waiting for an answer, she stepped forward and guided him over to the nearest chair. “There you go.”

“I’ll make some tea,” Martha said quickly, seeming to understand that the Doctor needed space right now. 

“All right, Alien boy,” Donna said softly, as the younger woman left the room. 

“Is it?” the Doctor spat.

“No,” Donna replied. “I’m sorry.” she continued to survey him, and once again the Doctor was astounded by her perception. “She wasn’t the first child you lost, was she?

The Doctor sighed deeply. “No. She wasn’t.”

\---

_ The cold, frigid night air stung the younger Time Lord’s cheeks as he followed his mentor through the miry crevices. “Doctor!” Korvai gasped. “Will you—slow down, dammit! We don’t all have two, functioning, not-fractured ankles.” _

_ The Doctor rounded on his errant apprentice, glaring. “And if you had the sense not to fall down as many potholes and crevices as you seem to, you, too, could have some bones in your lower legs that aren’t broken! And in fact, it was you dropping into that cavern that led to all this—" he gestured behind him, at the dim glow of eyes in the darkness-- “so I’d lay off a bit, if I were you.” _

_ Korvai raised his eyebrows. “You’re blaming me for the years of erosion that made parts of these tunnels as thin as paper?” _

_ “Oh, no,” the Doctor retorted, between breaths. “I’m just amazed at how you manage to find the thinnest parts of them, and plummet through not once, not twice, but five seperate times.” _

_ “Yeah, well, me too,” Korvai grumbled. “Well, better me than you, I suppose. Stars know your old bones couldn’t survive it.” _

_ “Oi, watch it,” the Doctor smirked. “You do realize I’m not dramatically older than you, don’t you?” _

_ “You don’t make it easy, mister grumpy,” Korvai huffed. _

_ “I am standing here with a big stupid grin on my face. You’re the one who’s grumbling nonstop,” the Doctor returned. _

_ “I have a fractured ankle!” Korvai exclaimed. _

_ “And there you go, at it again,” the Doctor teased. “It’s just complain, complain, complain with you, isn’t it?” _

_ Korvai, unable to think of anything to say that wouldn’t prove the Doctor’s point further, merely gritted his teeth and continued to awkwardly stumble-run beside his mentor. Whatever it was that Korvai had awakened was slowly but inevitably gaining on the pair. _

_ “We don’t have time for this,” the Doctor mumbled under his breath, and swept a protesting Korvai into his arms, his apprentice’s pride be damned. Ignoring the stream of curses coming from his cargo, he vaulted on ahead. His hearts heaved and his legs burnt as he ran desperately, as the creature continued to gain on them. It was a mere few meters behind them now, but the TARDIS wasn’t far ahead. Just a little bit further-- _

_ CRASH. The Doctor’s heart jumped as the earth beneath his legs gave way and he found himself falling, his charge slipping from his arms. A moment later found them piled on the ground, some 6 meters below. The Doctor was extremely sore, but was uninjured. Korvai looked none the worse for wear, thank the stars—the Doctor had been afraid he may have hit his head or further aggravated his ankle. _

_ Although, Korvai’s wild grin did somewhat support the “hit on the head” theory. _

_ Meanwhile, the creature sailed above them, apparently unaware of what had become of its prey.  _

_ The Doctor let out a breath of relief as he watched the creature pass by overhead, and slowly picked himself up off the ground, dusting fragments of debris from his coat. “Are you alright?” he asked Korvai in concern. _

_ His apprentice had his lips pressed together so tight that they were almost white, and his eyes were dancing in the way that indicated he was barely stifling laughter. _

_ “No,” the Doctor said, “no. Shut up. Don’t you dare say anything!” _

_ Korvai could only shake his head helplessly. “You complete lemon!” he burst out, before dissolving into fits of loose, tumbling laughter, adrenaline fizzing through his system like the bubbles in champagne. “Would you like to reconsider what you’ve just been saying about me and holes?” he finally managed to ask. _

_ The Doctor drew himself up to his full height. “At least when I fall through holes, it saves both our lives,” he said with all the dignity he could muster. _

_ “No! No, don’t say that!” Korvai giggled, but looked slightly panicked. _

_ “What, didn’t you notice the great lumbering monster we just escaped?” the Doctor shot back. _

_ “No! Stop it!” Korvai was more serious now. “You’ll—" he was cut off by a dark, menacing rumble coming from the other side of the cave. “Jinx it…” Korvai finished lamely.  _

\---

Two points of light were the only sign of a presence in the dark room as a young man entered, flicking the lights on behind him. 

“Good, you’re here,” he said to the room’s other occupant, his voice sharp with purpose. “Take a look at this, I want to get your opinion on where to go from here.”

The lights, now warmly bright, revealed the speaker to be tall and dark-haired, with piercing eyes that held the experience of countless years—centuries, in fact, belying his youthful appearance. A few determined strides took the Time Lord—for it was impossible for the speaker to be anything else—to a keyboard and monitor, on which he pulled up a detailed schematic.

“So, I found out the Senator is being held here,” he announced to his companion, indicating a spot on the map. “In the Dalek fortress.’

“I. Guessed. Thaaat,” came the droned reply. The mechanical voice emanated from the domed crown of a creature that looked like nothing so much as a large bronze pepperpot with a plunger affixed to it, albeit infinitely more deadly than either implement. In truth, it was a killing machine from the factories of Skaro. A Dalek.

And amazingly, it appeared to be laughing.

The Time Lord glared at him. “Well done, Dr Sarcastic. Care to explain why I had to break into one of the most secure facilities  _ in the entire universe _ in the dead of night and be almost killed at least a dozen times to find out, then?”

“We. Needed. To be. Sure,” the Dalek annoyingly replied.

“We needed… you know what, we’ll talk about this later. I have a limited number of regenerations, you know,” the Time Lord muttered. 

Under ordinary circumstances (well, perhaps  _ ordinary  _ wasn’t the best word), the banter would have continued for a good fifteen minutes, until one or both of them got bored. Currently, however, the Intergalactic vigilante duo were trying to free a senator and liberate a planet from Dalek control. 

“First. Step. Rescue. The Senator,” the Dalek drawled.

“Agreed,” the Time Lord replied. “Then, we can blow the place.”

“You. Set. Up. The. Time bomb?” Asked the Dalek. 

“I did,” replied the Time Lord. “So my late night trip behind enemy lines wasn’t a complete waste of time, thank you very much.” 

“Never. Said. It. Was,” the Dalek replied. 

“Whatever,” the Time Lord dismissed. There was no time for arguing. “So, here’s the plan; I’ll use my vortex manipulator to get us as close to the control centre as we can get without the Daleks picking up our signal. You create a diversion and I’ll find the Senator and get her out of there. Then, we’ll set off the bomb and all things Dalek will be hurled five billion years into the future.”

“Except. Me.” The Dalek added pointedly.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes. “Obviously. Did I leave anything out?”

“No. We. Are. Clear.,” the Dalek replied. “Get. Some. Rest. We’ll leave. Tomorrow.”


	2. Prologue Part 2

_ The Doctor drew himself up to his full height. “At least when I fall through holes, it saves both our lives,” he said with all the dignity he could muster. _

_ “No! No, don’t say that!” Korvai giggled, but looked slightly panicked. _

_ “What, didn’t you notice the great lumbering monster we just escaped?” the Doctor shot back. _

_ “No! Stop it!” Korvai was more serious now. “You’ll—" he was cut off by a dark, menacing rumble coming from the other side of the cave. “Jinx it…” Korvai finished lamely.  _

_ Without missing a beat, the Doctor swept up his apprentice once more and sprinted in the other direction, a second beast hot on his tail. There was, however, nowhere to run, and there was no way he could scale a 6 meter wall carrying Korvai, at least not quick enough to outrun the creature. _ _   
_ _ So flight, the Doctor’s first instinct, was not an option, although he continued to try it anyway. Freeze wasn’t a good option either. Desperately, he used his sonic to scan the walls. _

_ “What are you doing?” Korvai hissed, squirming. _

_ The Doctor tightened his grip. “Trying to find a weakness in the walls. Maybe I should just let you down so you can fall through it.” _

_ “Yeah, maybe you should,” Korvai hissed, twisting out of the Doctor’s grip. _

_ Korvai’s first instinct was, unfortunately, to fight, as little sense as that made much of the time. He scrambled into a fighting position, with both feet firmly planted and his hands raised defensively in a way reminiscent of Earth-style boxing. _

_ “What are you doing?” the Doctor growled. “For a start, it’s got more tentacles than you have arms, so if you’re going to try and hit it, I don’t think it would go too well!” _

_ “You’re not helping!” Korvai muttered venomously, as a faint distortion started to waver in the air around his clenched fists. “Unlike you, I did happen to bring something that might get us out of this. Brace yourself, there’s going to be a pretty loud bang in a moment.” _

_ The Doctor glanced backwards at the now very pronounced shimmer around his apprentice’s hands. “You brought those?” _

_ “Is now really the time to argue about it?” Korvai retorted waspishly. _

_ The Doctor’s frown indicated that more discussion was definitely imminent, but nonetheless he let the matter drop, crouching into a tight ball with his hands over his ears. _

_ Seeing that his mentor had taken as much of a protective measure as possible in the circumstances, Korvai drew back and hurled the devices he’d been holding into the depths of the cavern, beyond the creature. The younger Time Lord had just enough time to drop into a crouch himself before the pressure-activated charges detonated, sending a shockwave scything through the enclosed space. _

\---

The one known as “The Good Dalek” to many throughout the universe was, even more frequently known as “the Rogue Dalek” or simply “the Rogue.” Others knew him as the “The Dalek Vigilante,” “the Rebel Dalek,” or even “the Dalek Unicorn.” (That was a particularly, ahem, interesting story which the Dalek’s esteemed partner would be more than willing to share, should you ask him.) Another common name, popular among those familiar with the Time War, was “the Dalek Deserter.” He was the reason that, to millions throughout the universe, the Daleks’ infamous “Ex.ter.min.ate!” was a sound of pure, unadulterated hope, without a trace of fear. Of course, to Gallifreyans, this Dalek was dismissed as no more than “a traitor.” To the Daleks, he was “The Traitor.” Of course, the Rebel Dalek’s favourite name was the one only his close friends called him. Jackie. 

Right now, there was a very real possibility the Rogue Dalek was facing his last moments, about to be executed by the ones who knew him as “The Traitor.”

Jackie’s diversion had been an effective one, until he found himself backed into a wall, facing a firing squad of Daleks who knew exactly who he was.

“You. Will be. Exterminated.” the Prime Dalek drawled. “You. Are. Inferior.”

“And. I am. So. Proud. Of it,” the Good Dalek replied.

\---

_ For what seemed like hours, Mentor and Apprentice crouched as the debris collapsed around them, their hearts aching as a million-year old cave was reduced to ruins. The creature let out an almighty wail and fell, thudding down hard on the ground. It was alive, as would be any of its children, but unconscious, its home destroyed. Finally, the dust faded, as Korvai rose to his feet. He turned to his mentor, heart weighed heavy with guilt, preparing himself to face the hellfire the Doctor would rain down at him for this. _ _   
_ _ Or rather, he attempted to. Instead, he toppled over, finding himself sprawled at the Doctor’s feet.  _ _   
_ __ “You didn’t cover yourself properly,” the Doctor noted, his tone unsympathetic. Korvai glanced down to see a large piece of—something—sticking out of his knee, his leg bent in an odd direction. Ah, that explained it. Suddenly, pain erupted from the affected region as Korvai found himself holding back sobs.

_ The Doctor sighed, not entirely without sympathy. “You understand what you did wrong, don’t you.” _

_ “I brought category 3 explosive weapons, which technically I’m not supposed to have access to, on what should have been a routine mission, and detonated them in an enclosed space,” Korvai murmured, his eyes downcast as he tried to still the tremors that racked his body. “Which has led to my own personal injury, destruction of the immediate environment, and possibly further weakening of the natural geology and ecosystems.” _

_ The Doctor looked down at his apprentice, satisfied that the lesson had sunk in, and his eyes softened. _

_ “No, you didn’t form the correct safety position, probably because your ankle was giving you problems. That’s what would have caused your knee to give out when the shockwave from the earthquake hit.” _

_ Korvai tilted his head back to frown at his mentor in confusion. “Earthquake?” _

_ “This planet has particularly unstable tectonics, and you said it yourself, years of erosion in these caves meant that it was only a matter of time before they collapsed of their own accord. I’ve done some scans, and the damage was mostly limited to this cave system—which is a shame, of course, but is far better than I would have expected. The creature is still alive, too. It might have to find a new home in a hurry, but this is its planet, and it will know the rest of the caves far better than we do. This earthquake was an awful event, but it wasn’t the tragedy it could have been.” _

_ Korvai felt some of the tension drain from his shoulders as he realised what the Doctor was saying. _

_ “Of course,” the Doctor continued, “if I did have an apprentice who saw fit to bring pressure-activated explosives with him on a mission that involved an extraordinary number of falls and hard landings, any one of which could have set off said explosives if they weren’t carried correctly—" he noticed a brief flash of shame cross Korvai’s face at those words-- “then I would have to have words with them. Although, if this apprentice did manage to save both our lives through their use, with relatively minimal impact on the surrounds, then I suppose I would be quite proud of them—particularly as they wouldn’t have aimed the charges at the creature itself.” _

_ The Doctor coughed. “Since this was a natural disaster, though, this is all purely hypothetical.” _

_ Korvai let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, relief watching over him. The Doctor studied him quizzically, amused and a little concerned that his opinion mattered so much to his young apprentice. Well, he supposed Korvai hadn’t received much validation from his own family. Taking out his sonic, he scanned Korvai for any other injuries. Luckily, it seemed like it was just the leg, a bad break though it was. Really, he should at least wait until he got back to the TARDIS, where there were proper supplies for resetting a broken leg. However, with the bone sticking out, the chance of infection was far too high. As it was, he was already worried, and would be ordering an antibiotic bath for Korvai as soon as they got back to Gallifrey. He removed an antibiotic swab from his pocket and gently dabbed the wound, ignoring Korvai’s attempts to stifle his sobs. “Okay, Korvai,” the Doctor said soothingly. “This would normally be done with strong painkillers, but I don’t have any on me. Consider this your punishment.” _

_ Dimly, Korvai nodded, and the Doctor gave him a piece of wood to bite. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do. Without warning, the Doctor pushed the bone back into place. Despite the wood block, Korvai let out a scream, then went blessedly limb. Using pieces of fallen debris and parts of his jacket, the Doctor fashioned a splint for his unconscious apprentice, then lifted him like a rag-doll _

\---

The firing squad took aim, bearing down upon the Good Dalek. “Ex. Ter. Min. Ate.”

But their weapons never found their mark. A shield materialized in front of Jackie, and the blasts were deflected, each effectively taking out the one who had delivered it. Jackie felt a familiar pair of arms grab onto him. In seconds, the vortex manipulator had been reset, and the pair were hurtling through space.

“You. Took. Your. Time.” Jackie growled, if it was possible for a Dalek to do that.

“Sorry,” the young Time Lord, Jackie’s partner, grunted.

“Is. The Senator. Safe?” Jackie asked.

“She is. Let’s blow the place,” the Time Lord replied, and began rummaging his pockets for the detonator. “Uh oh…”

“What.” The Dalek asked.

“I may have… entered the wrong coordinates. The detonator won’t work from this distance!”

“What. Do you. Mean. How. on. Skaro. Did you—" The Dalek questioned.

“Because I was a bit more focused on saving your sorry arse than getting the coordinates right!” The Time Lord burst. 

“I don’t. Have. An arse,” the Dalek replied.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes. “It’s hardly the time to… watch out! Cybermen!” 

Moments later, they were surrounded by a sea of silver and white as a legion of space-suit equipped cyborgs overtook them.

“Got. Your. blaster?” Jackie asked.

“No! I decided to leave it behind on this oh so dangerous mission! What do you think?” The Time Lord shouted. 

There was no time for Jackie to respond. Seconds later, the vigilante due were thrust into fighting for their lives. The Time Lord’s hearts thumped inside his chest, drawing and firing with practised ease. Keeping his feet firmly planted on Jackie’s fender and one hand gripping his solar bars, the Time Lord launched his body around so he could press his body to Jackie’s casing. With one arm preventing his fall to oblivion, his shoulders trembling but his hand remaining steady, he expertly and rapidly deflected the barrage of blasts coming their way, his counter-attacks methodical and in quick succession. 

Jackie, for his part, flew in all directions to evade the ambush, clearing the legions before him whilst looking for a pathway for a weak point, through which they could escape.

Ten minutes later, they were, miraculously, still standing. The same could not be said for many of the cybermen. This had less to do with them and far more to do with the fact that several of the ships had spontaneously blown up.

“I wonder what’s going on onboard that,” the Time Lord muttered, indicating the last ship standing. 

“Let’s. Find. Out.” Jackie replied, flying towards the ship.

Neither had any idea why there happened to be a young Roman Centurion in command of the ship. They might have stuck around to find out had they not been in the middle of their own mission, and besides, the universe was full of outlandish mysteries. The young man was equally curious about the Dalek-Humanoid pair flying outside, but he, too, was in the middle of something rather important.

The Time Lord quickly entered the correct coordinates into the vortex manipulator, and the vigilante pair found themselves back on the planet from where they had begun.

The Time Lord pushed the detonator, and the Dalek control centre, along with all the Dalek technology that currently oppressed the planet, was hurled into the very distant future.

The Time Lord sighed. “Done. Finally.”

“Let’s. go and. Discuss. with. the Senator,” Jackie suggested.

“Agreed,” the Time Lord replied. “We should…”

A familiar, whirring sound filled the air—a sound the Time Lord had not heard in a very long time. His forehead grew cold, and an overwhelming, bitter taste flooded his mouth. Slowly, he turned around, to see exactly what he had expected to see: A blue box had materialized, not ten meters away from them.

“Let’s go!” The Time Lord said hoarsely, desperately punching coordinates into his vortex manipulator. “The Senator can sort things out herself. Let’s get out of here.”

“I. Agree,” Jackie replied, recognising the Doctor’s ship.

Inside the blue box, a young woman leant against the railing. “So, this planet has been taken over by the Daleks?”

“Correct!” the Doctor grinned.

“And we’re going to liberate the planet from Dalek control?” Rose continued.

“Ah well, It’s nice to do something nice for someone every once and awhile,” the Doctor smiled. “Random acts of kindness and all that. Allons-y!”

The Doctor stepped out into the dusty climate, the hot weather the first thing to confront him.

The second thing was a sight he thought he’d never see again. 

A familiar humanoid stood about a ten away from him, side by side with—no, it couldn’t be.

A Dalek.

“You!” The Doctor hissed. 

The younger Time Lord stared back, meeting the Doctor’s gaze, his features as cold and metallic as the killing machine at his side. A dark, purple shimmer had already begun to emanate from his wrist and enclose the pair; they couldn’t have stayed, even if they’d wanted to. 

The Doctor stared at the ground which had once been occupied by the man and his Dalek companion.” 

“Doctor.” He spun round to face Rose. “Who was that?”

“Oh,” the Doctor replied. “That was—that was someone I used to know.”

“An enemy or a friend?” Rose asked.

The Doctor was silent for a moment, and then replied, “both.”

For many, many years, the Doctor heard only rumours as to the whereabouts and actions of the Good Dalek and his Time Lord companion. The closest he came to them was a sighting on the part of Rory Williams, the Lone Centurion, his companion. Unbeknownst to his companions, he searched for them nearly every day, but he never found them.

\---

_ Korvai slowly awoke in the TARDIS, a dull ache in his leg the only reminder of the broken bone that had, until recently, been all too visible. The cool white light of the medbay filtered through his half-closed eyes, and the feeling of safety, of being home, was almost tangible. _

_ He opened his eyes fully to see his mentor sitting by the bedside, watching him wordlessly. The Doctor’s silence wasn’t frosty, however, but patient, expectant. _

_ “Thank you,” Korvai said quietly, feeling his words drop into the stillness. “And… I’m sorry.” _

_ “For what?” the Doctor asked, and his question seemed to be genuine. _

_ Korvai’s small smile was wry. “For all of it. For being the mess you’ve had to cover up.” _

_ “Korvai, you did the best you could with the tools you had at your disposal. Admittedly, you shouldn’t have had the charges, but the only other solution I could think of at the time would have been far worse. What happened wasn’t ideal, but you made the best of a bad situation. One detail, though,” the Doctor said seriously. _

_ “Yes?” Korvai asked, ready for a chastising. _

_ A sly gleam entered the Doctor’s eye. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t have fallen down all those holes.”  _

_ Korvai groaned. “You’re the worst!”  _

_ “Yep,” the Doctor replied. “And, by the way, you’re still grounded.” _

_ “I thought you said that resetting my leg without painkillers was my punishment,” Korvai mumbled. _

_ “Oh, it was,” the Doctor replied, “for not forming the correct safety position. This is for bringing those damn explosives, which, by the way, you know I don’t approve of.” _

_ Korvai grinned, much to the Doctor’s relief. “Well, the only things you do seem to approve of are screwdrivers, so you don’t leave a guy a lot of options. For how long am I grounded?” _

_ “Well, I’d say around until that leg of yours heals up,” the Doctor replied. _

_ Korvai exhaled. “So, your idea of ‘punishing’ me is just to stick a label on things that were going to happen anyway?” _

_ “Well, yes. I’d say those things are punishment enough, surely,” the Doctor replied. “Of course, should you decide to breach the terms of your grounding, I would have to extend it.” His voice dropped. “By which I mean, you have a tendency to run off before you’re supposed to when you’re recovering. I’m adding—an extra incentive.” _

_ “By which you mean, I don’t get to leave until you say I can, and you won’t tolerate me sneaking out,” Korvai clarified, his dejection barely perceptible. Barely. _

_ “ _ Again _. I won’t tolerate you sneaking out  _ again, _ ” the Doctor emphasized. “Which is why you’re not in a hospital. No point if you’re just going to discharge yourself and I have to drag you back. Again.” _

_ “Hey, that was one time!” Korvai exclaimed. “Well—twice,” he amended at the Doctor’s raised eyebrows. _

_ “I’m counting three,” the Doctor returned. _

_ “The time with the cybermen doesn’t count. The Healers agreed with me that I was fine to go.” _

_ The Doctor gave a long-suffering sigh. “You will not move until I indicate otherwise, and that’s final,” he said severely. “Also, no more smuggling category 3 explosive weapons on missions.” _

_ “What?” Korvai shot back indignantly. “Doctor, you said yourself they saved our lives!”  _

_ “They did, but that doesn’t mean that I like you having them,” the Doctor replied. “We shouldn’t have to resort to that kind of thing. And I manage just fine with my screwdriver, thank you very much.” _

_ Korvai raised a cynical eyebrow. “You feel confident saying that in light of what just happened? What about that time on Ondas? And when the Induvar—" _

_ “Okay, no need to list examples,” the Doctor broke in hastily. “But for the most part, you have to admit it works. In any case, I haven’t used life-threatening weaponry.” _

_ Korvai wrinkled his nose, but was otherwise silent. _

_ “There’s nothing we can do to change what’s happened,” the Doctor said. “And on this occasion, I’d be remiss to wish you didn’t have them. But I would like you to promise not to bring any more category 3 weaponry to missions. Is that fair?” _

_ Korvai sighed. He knew all too well how persistent his mentor could be on this sort of topic. “I promise,” he said, though part of him did make a note of the fact that category 1 and 2 weapons, while rather illegal, technically weren’t excluded by the promise. _

_ “Good,” the Doctor smiled. “Let’s get started on the mission report!” _

_ Korvai groaned. “Now?” _

_ “Well, not like you’ve got anything else to do,” the Doctor grinned.  _

_ “Study?” Korvai suggested lamely. _

_ “Well, I’m quite certain that’s not how you were planning on spending your first few hours in the land of the living, unless you have something specifically you need to study for,” the Doctor returned. “Which would be strange, seeing as I distinctly remember asking you before the mission…” _

_ The Doctor chuckled as Korvai pouted in a way that was so distinctly Koschei. They were far more alike than they realized. _

_ Or at least, Korvai was like Koschei from before.  _


	3. Part 1: The Doctor's Apprentice

For centuries now, the Time War had raged on. Gallifrey and Skaro, now in ruins, had been abandoned, the bodies of billions of men, women and children left behind. 

The War had taken into the skies, into the galaxies, until not a single planet was free of tyranny, of anarchy, caught in the crossfires as mere fodder in the bloodiest war in all of Time and Space.

In the centre of the tumultuous storm, two Time Lords lay, dying. They’d fought in the war, in its early days, when it was only Gallifrey and Skaro whose children were being butchered like cattle. When they could stand it no longer, they’d followed the path of their mentors. They’d stolen a TARDIS and ran away, and flown around the galaxy, doing the best they could to undo just a little of the damage the war was wreaking.

But no-matter how much they tried, they couldn’t save the universe. It was far too late for that. They could temporarily preserve lives, but they couldn’t save them.

Their mentors continued their efforts, and continued to fly about the galaxy, faster and faster, as if they thought that if they could only fly fast enough, they’d eventually disappear, or escape into a land where all was well. 

This pair of Time Lords, however, knew it was futile. They turned their attention to their old area of expertise, to Covert Operations, and infiltrated the commands of Time Lord and Dalek forces alike, enabling them to foil thousands of plans and free hundreds of planets from fear and oppression, saving them from being turned to wasteland. When they were inevitably discovered, they faced both armies head on, the two of them against the universe. And they fought bitterly, every day, until their last breaths.

Now they lay in the eye of the storm, the sounds of bombs and blasters echoing around them, the sky flashing with unnatural colours.

And yet, they heard nothing.

The Defier lay on his side, gazing at his wife, watching as the rise and fall of her chest slowed, her eyelids drooping.

“Veera,” he whispered, reaching out to take her hand, the ancient name falling from his lips as easily as it had when they first met, all those centuries ago.

But she was no more Veera than he was Korvai, son of Koschei. She was the Warlock now. 

“Hmm?” The Warlock replied, squeezing his hand, but not opening her eyes.

A faint smile touched the Defier’s lips. “So you’re still with me.”

Somehow, the Warlock found the energy to roll towards him, so she was pressed against him. “We go together,” she whispered, “or not at all. Wasn’t that our agreement, Korvai Defier?”

“Indeed it was, Veera Warlock,” the Defier whispered back, bringing a hand up to her cheek.

The Warlock’s mouth twisted. “Doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

“Guess not,” the Defier replied, taking her hands in his, summoning the last of his regenerative energy and preparing to push it into his wife. “Okay, let’s do this. Together.”

“Or not at all,” The Warlock finished, a yellow glow pooling around her hands also.

\---

_ The nine young Time Lords, a group of close friends who had graduated from the Academy a mere fifty years back, were enjoying a drink together in the small tavern near their old alma mater. Their silence was warm and companionable. Feeling no need to talk, they merely enjoyed each other’s company until--  _

_ Bang! The door to the tavern flew open, and a Time Lord, much the same age as the others, entered with a sharp, excited cry. _

_ “Hey! Did you hear the news? Some old fool at the Academy has gone and made Theta Sigma a master!” _

_ The speaker flopped down in the only empty chair in the group, looking at one of his friends with a wide smile.  _

_ “Piss off, Koschei!” the Time Lord in question—Theta Sigma—retorted, but his answering grin took the sting out of his words. _

_ “I saw it on the board,” Koschei explained. “They’ve put the list of the masters for next semester’s candidates up today.” _

_ “Really, Theta?” one of the women asked. “This isn’t just one of Koschei’s jokes?” _

_ “Yeah, it’s true,” Theta Sigma replied with a shy smile. “I was approached about it a little while back.” _

_ The others erupted in cheers, congratulating their friend on the good news. It was certainly an achievement to be deemed capable of mentoring the new generation of Time Lords, and Theta Sigma, his friends knew, was definitely deserving of the honour. _

_ “So? Do you know who it is?” one of the others questioned. _

_ Theta Sigma could only nod, before Koschei chimed in once more. _

_ “Huh, I pity the poor kid that gets Theta as a teacher!” _

_ Try as he might, Theta Sigma—the Time Lord who would one day take the name of ‘Doctor’—couldn’t keep the impish grin off his face as he turned to look at his friend. _

_ “Well, tell him to be careful, then,” he said, eyes twinkling. “It’s your son, after all!” _

\---

“I like the second option,” A gruff voice interrupted sharply. The pair started in shock as they glanced behind them, to see  _ it.  _ The blue box. The symbol of hope all across time and space. And although it was impossible, utterly impossible, to save them now, the Defier felt his own heart lighten with warmth. 

“Come on!” the Doctor commanded, kicking a stone as he made his way across to them. “On your feet. Sorry to interrupt your romantic death scene, but I happen to have some  _ very  _ advanced medical equipment in the TARDIS and can fix you both right up. Do try to be more careful, now, you are on your last incarnations after all.”

The Defier couldn’t help but smile as his former mentor hauled them up and dragged them into his TARDIS, and into the medical bay.

“Were you seriously going to initiate suspended regeneration?” the Doctor asked them.

“Together, or not at all,” the Defier shrugged. “It’s not like we had anything to lose.”

“You had nothing to gain, either,” the Doctor snorted. “You know quite well your energies are incompatible. It would have killed you.”

“Together, or not at all,” the Warlock repeated, her eyelids again fluttering closed. 

“Yes, yes, very romantic,” the Doctor replied. “Spending your last moments melding your regenerative energies together. I’ll give you that.”

“We thought so,” the Defier said, as he was hauled onto a linen bed. 

“Yeah, yeah. Go to sleep so I can concentrate,” the Doctor replied.

\---

_ Several centuries earlier: _

“Joss, duck,” Korvai bellowed over his shoulder. His friend obliged, plunging himself into the jagged ground as the air above him exploded in blaster shots. Immediately, Joss rolled over towards the group and Korvai, not for the first time, found himself thanking the heavens that his friend was so lithe and agile. 

Lorzo glared at Korvai. “This is your fault.”

“How?” Korvai exclaimed. 

“It’s one thing to be a trouble magnet yourself. Now you’ve gone and infected everyone else!” Lorzo replied.

It had been Jazzlin’s first solo mission. The first out of their year in the academy to have one. As Senior apprentices, Jazzlin, Lorzo and Korvai had been on several missions with each other and with other senior apprentices, although it seemed the council did not quite consider them—uh— _ trustworthy  _ enough to send them on their own. Something Korvai was a little miffed by—they’d been excellent students whilst they’d been at the academy; diligent, polite and respectful for the most part. Although he had to admit that his record, at least, was something quite spectacular. 

So when Jazzlin became the first in their year to receive a solo assignment (a simple observe-and-report only) they’d been a little over-zealous in finding out everything they possibly could about the mission. Something they hadn’t bothered with for their friends in the years above, such as Julio and Alleva, who went on solo missions all the time.

When some of the more approved methods of research ( _ more _ approved because they still weren’t technically supposed to access classified council records) came up, well, not blank but  _ boring _ , they’d turned to more illegal methods. Well,  _ Joss _ had turned to more illegal methods, and Korvai was left to smugly remind everyone who had taught Joss to hack so well. All jokes were shoved aside when Joss’s  _ research r _ evealed Jazzlin was headed into a trap.

The Pictarian Council, leaders of the pirate system of Pictara (insofar as such a system could have ‘leaders’), hadn’t wanted a Time Lord to witness their meeting--although knowing how volatile such meetings could be, it wasn’t a bad idea. Apparently, they’d managed to work together for once in their political careers to acquire a Time Lord hostage.

Fortunately for Jazzlin, however, any kind of cross-planetary communication always left some kind of record, no-matter what lengths you took to erase it. And Jazlin just happened to be friends with some of the best and most over-eager hackers on Gallifrey. The three schemers (Kovai, Joss and Lorzo) had left immediately. They just hoped they weren’t too late.

This was how they found themselves at the entrance to the Pirate Palace, debating the best way to break in and trying not to get shot. They’d taken cover under a small rocky crevice.

Maybe they should alert the council, but there’d be hell to pay if they did. Especially for Korvai, as that would mean Theta Sigma would find out. And hell hath no fury like the Doctor scorned. They could tell Ushas and she’d be here in a heartbeat, but then the council would find out anyway. As would Theta. Even if they did find a way to explain away how they’d uncovered the information, none of them were supposed to be there. Joss was still at the academy and not a senior apprentice, and so definitely wasn’t supposed to be there. 

There was, of course, the possibility of telling Theta directly, who was fairly good at being subtle and probably wouldn't be too mad if he heard it from Korvai before the fact. But Theta was away on his own mission. With  _ Patience _ . And Korvai might smirk about that like hell, but wasn’t going to call him back from that. Yeah, there was a reason he’d decided to sit that one out.

Eventually, they settled on sending a  _ very _ covert message to some of their friends, hoping that none of their mentors saw fit to investigate and that one of their friends would find it.

But in the meantime, they had to assume they were on their own.

“Any ideas?” Korvai shouted over the explosive background. “Now that they apparently know we’re here?” Yeah, they’d messed up. Although it wasn’t  _ entirely _ their fault. The ship they’d managed to—ahem, acquire—wasn’t in the best condition. They’d managed to fry the chameleon circuit flying through a severe storm on the way out of Gallifrey, although there was very little they could have done to avoid it. It wasn’t like they were going to  _ obey _ a no-flight warning when their friend was in danger. (Yet another reason there’d be hell to pay if anyone found out.) 

The fried chameleon circuit shouldn’t really have been a problem; they’d been careful choosing a landing sight. Shame that a travelling pirate prince had chosen that exact time and place to relieve himself. They’d taken him down quickly and easily, and he was currently lying unconscious in their ship. However, it seemed he’d succeeded in alerting the palace.

“They don’t know how many of us there are,” Korvai hissed, ducking to avoid a shrapnel blast flying over their heads. “We could use Operation Trojan Horse.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna veto that,” Lorzo replied. “We’ve already got one potentially-kidnapped Time Lord, we  _ do not _ need two.”

“I thought Theta Sigma banned you from using that,” Joss added. 

“Yeah, well, he also banned me from unauthorized missions and smuggling illegal weapons, and look how that turned out,” Kovai smirked.

Lorzo rolled her eyes. “He’s going to kill you, you know.”

Kovai shrugged. “Probably. But you live with  _ Ushas. _ ”

“Who is far worse than you, I admit,” Lorzo replied. 

Joss glanced at her sympathetically. “How do you survive?”

“I snark about it with Jazzlin later,” Lorzo replied. “Speaking of, anyone got a better idea of how to get her out other than Korvai getting himself captured and potentially killed?”

“Infiltrate the meeting?” Joss suggested. 

Lorzo nodded. “That could work. We’d have to go back to the ship and synthesize clothing. If we fly the ship away, they’ll hopefully think we’ve left.”

“Sounds good,” Korvai agreed, aiming several laser shots over his shoulder to take out the cameras and sensors. “It’s a pirate planet. They get attacked all the time. They won’t be worried about this one incident, won’t be expecting us back.”

_ \--- _

_ Koschei’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Korvai is your apprentice?” He asked. “My Korvai?” _

_ Theta glanced at him. “What, you mean you didn’t know?” _

_ Kos _ c _ hei shook his head. “Honestly, I didn’t even think he’d make it into the academy, let alone become an apprentice in his first year!” _

_ Theta shrugged. “Really? I mean sure, most people don’t manage to get apprenticeships until they’re in their fourth or fifth year, but I’ve seen his first semester results and they’re quite exceptional. You must be proud.” _

_ Koschei laughed. “Proud? Stop pulling my leg, Theta. My Korvai is in the army. Not in the academy, thank the gods. Come on Theta, you know him. He wouldn’t last two minutes! He’d probably run out—" Koschei’s voice died off when he noticed Theta’s gaze becoming icy.  _

_ One of their companions cleared her throat. “So,” she said awkwardly, “It’s been so long since we last caught up properly. Quite a few of us have just come back from missions, how were they? I’m sure there’s some exciting stories waiting to be told.” _

_ Theta and Koschei were all too happy to allow a change of topic, and in under a minute, the group of friends were swept up in swashbuckling tales of planets in danger and peaceful negotiations turning suddenly sour—and, to the relatively young Time Lords, immensely more exciting.  _

_ Korvai, for his part, had been ecstatic to be appointed as Theta Sigma’s apprentice. Of course he had. Very rarely did students become apprentices whilst still at the Academy, and if they did, it was towards the end of their degree. Never in their first year. Korvai had only completed one semester, and his marks, whilst good, were far from exceptional. Clearly, part of it was Theta Sigma’s choice, for which he was immensely grateful, but his professors must have seen something in him to allow it. _

_ He had a better relationship with Theta then his father, but that wasn’t saying much. Shivering, he remembered his first (and only, so far) regeneration. He’d been a little girl. A very, very scared little girl who had been caught in the crossfire of a brutal gang fight. She’d been dragged behind the bushes and left for dead by the victors, as they eliminated all traces of their presence.  _

_ Her father had been nowhere in sight. But Theta Sigma had been there. He’d fought off the remaining gang members and pulled her out of the bush, held her in his arms as regenerative energy coursed through her tiny form. She’d been so very scared and the pain had been almost unbearable, but at least she wasn’t alone. He had sung to her, sung a collection of ancient, soothing melodies. And he had stayed with her, stayed with her for hours, until it was over. _

_ It had been strange, turning into a boy. But in the same way, it was strange how little difference he had felt. Perhaps he had thought everything would change, that he’d almost be a different person. Which he really wasn’t. _

_ He was grateful not to be thrust into spending half his life with a stranger, but the familiarity of his mentor caused other issues. He couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. For starters, he hadn’t been sure what to call him. As a child, he’d always called him “Uncle Thete,” but that didn’t seem right anymore; too familiar and too presumptuous. Simply calling him “Theta” seemed a little disrespectful. Theta was a nickname, and Korvai didn’t know his real name—it was a closely guarded secret. He could call him “Sir,” or “Professor”, he supposed, but that seemed far too formal an address for one he once viewed as an uncle. _

_ Eventually, he started calling Theta “Doctor,” like many of his professors. It was, however, a more familiar term, one appropriate for a mentor. _

_ And somehow, that name kind of stuck.  _


	4. The Doctor's Apprentice - Chapter Two

_ “Here, Theta, this is Korvai.” _

_ Theta looked dubiously at the young girl, barely more than a toddler, who was clinging to her father’s hand and trying to hide behind his legs. _

_ “Koschei, I’m not sure if she likes me…” _

_ “Nonsense!” Koschei said offhandedly. “She’s just shy. Korvai, this is your uncle Theta. He’s an old stick-in-the-mud that Daddy knows from the Academy.” _

_ Korvai peered shyly around Koschei’s legs.  _

_ “’llo,” she murmured. _

_ “Hello, Korvai,” Theta said quietly. _

_ “See, you two are getting along just fine!” Koschei said. “Now, Theta, can you look after Korvai for an hour or two? I need to see the Council about something—I shouldn’t be too long.” Turning to his daughter, Koschei bent down to her level. “Daddy’s just going away for a bit, okay? You stick with Uncle Theta, he’ll take care of you.” _

_ Ignoring Theta’s protests, Koschei threw his friend a relieved smile. “Thanks, mate. You’ve saved my skin. If I don’t go now, I’ll be in the deep cack.” _

_ He started to jog away, stopping after a few metres to call out something over his shoulder. As he sprinted off again, his words floated back to Theta. “I owe you one!” _

_ As the silhouette of his friend rapidly disappeared, Theta turned to look at Korvai. _

_ “Looks like it’s just us now, hey?” he said, trying to be friendly. The child just stared up at him, her dark eyes wide. _

_ “Um, do you want to go to the meadow?” Theta asked, slightly nervously. Children really weren’t his thing. _

_ At that, Korvai smiled widely, revealing a gap in her front teeth. Theta smiled too, absurdly relieved to have pleased his friend’s daughter. _

_ “Come on, then,” he said, stretching out a hand. Korvai’s small hand crept into his, and the pair set off. _

_ The nearby meadow was the perfect place for a child to run around. The long red grass waved and rippled gently in the slight breeze, and sunlight glanced off the silver leaves of the trees that dotted its borders. It was the picture of tranquility. _

_ With a happy chuckle, Korvai released Theta’s hand and plunged into the long grass, chasing after a butterfly she had spotted. _

_ The corner of Theta’s mouth quirked up as he watched her play. He could see the point in children, now. _

\---

When they arrived back at the ship, however, they found they were not alone. “What the hell, guys!” Jazzlin fumed. “My first solo mission. Mine! Not yours. And you just had to come and crash it? Also, if you’re going to steal a ship, did it have to be from a literal junkyard?”

“Well, we weren’t going to steal one someone still wanted,” Lorzo shot back. “And you’re welcome, by the way.”

“Wait, so it actually is from a junkyard?” Jazzlin said, miffed. “Unbelievable. Wasn’t there a no-flight warning?”

“There might have been,” Joss replied meekly. “We might have blown the chameleon circuit, if it ever worked in the first place.”

“Jazz, they’re planning on holding you hostage,” Lorzo informed her gravely. “But we’re glad you made it back here. Let’s get out of here.”

“Oh no,” Jazzlin shook her head. “Whilst I’m admittedly glad to see you guys, you don’t get to rip me away from my first solo mission. The council’s up to something, and I intend to find out what it is. I took that poor prince you assaulted back to the palace, by the way. I earned their trust that way.”

She threw several bundles of clothing into their arms. “Townspeople are allowed to witness the proceedings, although they can’t go everywhere those at the table can. I’ll be counting on you to watch carefully and get me out before they take me prisoner. But this is my first solo mission and I’m finishing it.”

“Fair enough,” Korvai agreed. He’d feel pretty miffed too if their friends had crashed his first solo mission. Or Theta. Especially Theta. “It’s your mission. Tell us what to do.”

The next few days were spent frantically trying to covertly gather and record as much information as possible, staying prepared for the unknown deadline when they’d have to pull Jazzlin from the jaws of death. They were pretty damn good, all things considered—despite their reputation, covert operations were their specialty. When the time came, they had a fairly good blueprint of the council’s plans for the next three years, all documented in a neat little hard drive for Jazzlin to hand to the council. Unfortunately, when the time came, they were the least prepared they’d been all week. 

Jazzlin had been cornered in a back corridor, with barely enough time to send a distress signal before she was shoved to her knees and thrown into the cellar. The Corridors were not accessible to townspeople, and security was far too tight to ‘accidently’ wander in. Korvai was forced to blow his cover going in after her, the strategies they’d planned out (such as other disguises and using the tunnels) not being accessible at the time. Lorzo and Joss, supreme agents of Worst Possible Timing, were back in the ship, uploading data. Which was how Korvai and Jazzlin found themselves backed against the wall, desperately trying to fight the way out, which was not how they’d planned on doing it. They were pretty damn good, but unfortunately for them so were the scores of highly trained pirates determined to subdue them. Eventually, Jazzlin was shoved back into the cellar and Korvai was hauled away as the expandable member of the pair. 

Korvai had no idea what they had in mind for him. He suspected Jazzlin might know, judging from the wide-eyed look she gave him after an old, ugly pirate bent down and whispered something into her ear. 

Out of all the tortures he was imagining, he didn’t expect to be shoved back out to the townspeople, for the spy to be handed over to their mercy. And moments later he found himself trampled underfoot, boots and fists raining down on his unshielded body.

It might have triggered regeneration if it had lasted much more than it did.

However, it seemed someone took pity on the young man, sweeping in and shoving the townspeople away, muttering something about crowds and young people and crazies, and hauling him away. 

Korvai’s eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to the elderly man who had rescued him. “Thank you sir, you have no idea—Julio?” The stranger’s hood was thrown back to reveal a grinning young woman. “That’s one hell of a disguise!”

“Thanks! Shuaann showed me how to make it,” Julio smiled back. “Let’s get you to your ship. Lorzo and Joss are getting Jazzlin, they should be back soon. Lorzo’s going to pilot Jazzlin’s ship. If I take mine, will you and Joss be alright with the TT capsule? The one that takes ten people to fly?”

“Does not,” Korvai huffed. 

“Good to know,” Julio smirked. “Are you alright? Howw hut are you.”

“Fine. just superficial injuries, thanks to you,” Korvai smiled. There was a gash on his face, and his back and legs were black and blue he was sure, but it was nothing some regenerative salve wouldn’t fix.

Salve which he’d left behind on Gallifrey, dammit. How had he managed to remember to bring category 4 explosive weapons, but not his salve?

He needed his salve. Not least because without it, it would be near impossible to sneak past Theta.

\---

“No.” Lorzo stated flatly.

Korvai groaned. “Lorzo…”

“No. I’m not stealing any of Ushas’s salve for you.” Lorzo’s eyes narrowed. “Not when you have your own. She’ll notice it’s gone, and then she’ll ask about it, and I’ll have to tell her  _ something _ , but no matter what I say there's a good chance it’ll get back to Theta  _ anyway _ , and that’ll defeat the purpose in the first place, won’t it?”

“Yeah, okay, guess you’re right,” Korvai sighed. “I guess I’ll just hope I can sneak in without him noticing.”

“Good luck,” Lorzo smiled. “Maybe he won’t be home. Ushas mentioned she was meeting the Deca at 1520, maybe stick around until then ?”

“Yeah, thanks, I will,” Korvai smiled.

A long sleeved, academy-issued shirt and scarf disguised most of the souvenirs from their recent escapades. He could slather those with his own salve tonight, and be good as new by morning.

The gash on the side of his face, however, was not so easy to hide.

Although only a small amount would be required for his face, Lorzo was right in saying Ushas would notice. The extremely powerful salve was fused with regenerative energy, and could heal most wounds in under three hours. The gash on his face would heal in under 20 minutes. However, the salve was, in most cases, (including Ushas’s), highly illegal, and Ushas kept a painstaking monitor of her supply. Due to his own difficulties with regeneration and his rather high risk career choice, Korvai was legally allowed a small bottle. The fact that he owned about fifty small bottles, having “lost” most of them at one occasion or another. He was supposed to carry one with him at all times, especially on missions, but in the frenzy at the start he’d forgotten.

He just needed to get into the house without Theta noticing. Hopefully he’d be out…

Gently, he eased himself into the front room, careful to keep the injured side of his face towards the door. A little paranoid, perhaps, but just in case…

“Korvai, where the devil have you been?”

That. In case of  _ that _ . “Hi Theta. When did you get back?” He bluffed. “How was your mission?”

Theta crossed his arms. “Four days ago.” Ah, that was problematic. He’d known Theta was probably back, but hadn’t expected him back until yesterday. “Imagine my surprise at finding the home I share with my apprentice completely empty and uncared for.”

Korvai cringed. “Yeah, sorry about that,” he said. “I was staying with Tarmaan. We’re working on a project together, and it was much easier than coming all the way back here, especially since you were away anyway. If I’d known you were back early, I would have come to see you.” Tarmaan had been several years above Korvai in the academy. Having recently completed his apprenticeship and graduating first-class as a fully fledged Time Lord, he lived on his own, close to the academy. Korvai knew that if asked, Tarmaan would back up his story.

“Really?” Theta asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. Yeah, Korvai hadn’t really expected him to buy it. 

“Nope,” he replied. Dammit. Theta was going to keep pushing until he got the truth. He sighed. “How was your mission? Why are you back so early? Have you asked Patience to marry you, yet?’

“ _ My _ mission was fine,” Theta replied. “Went drastically wrong way too quickly, but that meant it was over sooner. Speaking of which, why did you feel the need to crash Jazzlin’s? Jealous, much?”

Korvai grinned. “You knew. That’s why you didn’t try and contact me.” Thank the stars he’d decided to go for the kind-of, sort-of truth.

Theta nodded. “You, Lorzo, and Joss disappearing at the same time after Jazzlin left on her first solo mission? Of course we put it together. Don’t worry, we’ve got a good explanation lined up for the council if they find out, but they haven’t. Ushas, Drax and I are the only ones who know.”

“And once again, your friendship with the mentors of my friends has been my downfall.” Korvai sobered. “It was a trap, Doctor. Of course we had to go in after her. If we’d told you, or Ushas, or Drax, you would have come after us, and the council would have noticed, and then we’d all be in trouble.”

“And you think you’re not in trouble now?” Theta raised an eyebrow. “How many times do I have to tell you, no hacking into high-security planetary databases?”

“To be fair, that was Joss, not me,” Korvai grinned. 

“And who taught him to do that?” Theta asked, the other eyebrow raised. “What were you thinking, taking him? You realize how much trouble he could have gotten into. At least you and Lorzo  _ might _ have gotten off if you played your cards right.”

“We couldn’t leave him behind. He was the one who found out!” Korvai replied. “Besides, whilst I may have taught him initially, his skills have now far surpassed mine. Something I will never admit to his face as long as I live.”

“Well, I believe you on that much,” the Doctor snorted. “Okay, so why didn’t you leave once you’d found her? Ushas was going out of her mind once we found out what was going on. You have no idea how hard it was to stop her from getting in a TT-Capsule and going in after you.”

Korrvai struggled to reconcile this image with the dignified, clinical picture of Ushas in his mind. “Well, Jazzlin suspected they were up to something, besides kidnapping a Timelady I mean. She wanted to complete the mission, so we stayed. Jazz investigated, we were her extraction team. We got enough information to sanction them for centuries.”

Theta sighed. ‘You know, it didn’t exactly put any of our minds at ease that there was a no-fly warning around the time you lot disappeared in a ship you liberated from a  _ junkyard _ .”   
Oh, they were never going to live that down. “You really think we’d fly a dodgy ship in a space storm? We couldn’t have helped Jazzlin if we were dead. Isn’t the fact that we’re not dead proof that we didn’t do that?”

Theta’s eyes narrowed. “That’s exactly what you did, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” Korvai nodded. “But—you would have done the same.”

“Probably,” Theta agreed, smiling. “I keep on trying to think of things to make you promise me not to do again, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t have done myself.”

“Exactly!” Korvai smiled triumphantly.

“One more thing, Korvai,” Theta said seriously. “Why are you taking such great pains to avoid showing me the other side of your face?”

Korvai smiled meekly, tuning to face him properly. Theta gasped, taking three, quick strides towards him and cupping his chin in his hand. “Yeah, the extraction didn’t go so well,” he admitted. “Thankfully Julio showed up at the perfect moment.”

Theta sighed. “Julio Nicholls? I’m glad you told someone what you were doing. Are the others alright?”    
“Jazzlin got a little knocked up, but no-one else was injured,” Korvai replied. “Actually, Joss has a few scrapes, but they were just superficial. We checked, and cleaned them in case of infection.”

“Good,” the Doctor nodded, his gaze darkening. “You forgot your salve, didn’t you?”

Korvai grinned sheepishly. “Maybe.”

“Dammit, Korvai,” Theta hissed. “What if it hadn’t been just that? What if you’d been seriously—" His eyes narrowed. “ _ Wa _ s it just that gash?”

Korvai sighed. “Would you believe me if I said yes?”

“Nope,” Theta replied, roughly pulling his apprentice towards the table and shoving him into a chair. “Come on, shirt off. I want to take a look,” he said as he rummaged around the cupboard for medical supplies.

Korvai sighed, wincing as he shrugged off his shirt to reveal his torso in all of its red-black-and-blue glory. 

“Stars, Korvai,” Theta breathed, coming to sit beside the younger man. 

“Yeah, I know,” Korvai said regretfully. “Only time we let our guard down the entire week. We almost didn’t get Jazz out.”

“Well, at least now you know you’ll never let your guard down again,” Theta said matter-of-factly. 

They sat in silence for another few minutes, Theta concentrating on his ministrations, until he suddenly exclaimed, “Oh!”

“What?” Korvai asked, surprised by the outburst.

Theta grinned. “You asked me a question earlier, I still haven’t answered.”

Korvai eyed him suspiciously. “What did I ask you?”

“You asked me,” Theta’s eyes twinkled mischievously, “when I was going to propose to Patience.”

Korvai’s jaw dropped. “No way. You--"

“I came to the realization during the mission, that she was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” Theta told him. “I was so excited! I got home, and the first thing I wanted to do was tell you, ask you for advice. Imagine my disappointment in finding you’d disappeared without a trace!”

Korvai grinned. “No way! Damn, I wish I’d been here!”

“You bet you do,” Theta replied. 

“Well, I don’t have much experience with proposals, so I’m afraid I‘ve got no advice,” Korvai grinned. “Have you bought a ring yet? Can I see it?”

The Doctor passed him a small box from the other side of the table. “Officially, I haven’t asked her yet. Unofficially, she chose that.”

“Yes!” Korvai grinned. “It’s beautiful. What are you waiting for, then?”

“You, pudding-brain” the Doctor huffed. “I didn’t want to ask her before asking you to be my best man first. Also, when I didn’t know if you were alive or dead.”

“And you say I’m over-dramatic,” Korvai rolled his eyes. “We both know that if you’d really thought that, you would have come after me. And of course I’ll be your best man, idiot!”

Theta grinned. “Fantastic!” He slabbed an overzealous amount of regenerative salve on Korvai’s cheek. “Gotta get you looking top-shape, then. You didn’t think about that before your little expedition, did you?”

Again, Korvai rolled his eyes. “No, Theta. I admit, I did not.”


	5. The Doctor's Apprentice - Chapter Three

Theta Sigma shifted nervously, tugging at the collar of his ridiculously ornate robe. For the seventeenth time, he checked his pockets to ensure the thick, burgundy wedding ribbons still remained. Very soon, they would be used to bind his hand to that of his wife-to-be, as they swore to love and cherish each other for the rest of their natural lives. And, hopefully, after that.

Under Gallifreyan law, a Time Lord’s regeneration was treated similarly to his or her death. All marriages, contracts, partnerships and employment agreements were automatically dissolved. 

These could be renewed, of course, and often were, just as a Time Lord was free to reclaim their assets. However, it was a fair system, as many Time Lords chose to leave their marriage after regeneration, and the personality changes the process typically wrought.

Dammit, he was only a few centuries old, and this was his wedding day. Why was he thinking about regeneration already?

Although the mere presence of the young man beside him served as a reminder that regeneration could come at any age.

“Korvai? Are you alright?” He asked. His best man did appear a little pale.

Korvai bit back a yawn. He may or may not have stayed up to the early hours every night this week, attempting to perfect his Best Man speech, but he didn’t want Theta to know that. “Perfectly,” he replied evenly. “How are you doing?”

Again, Theta awkwardly shifted in his Wedding Robes. When he, Korvai, Jelpax and Rallon had been choosing their garments, Theta had originally elected the simplest the Seamster had available. After over-hearing a remark on how the poor bride-to-be would be disappointed by the lack of effort, however, he had instead barged out of the queue and replaced the set with the most ornate, expensive robes in the shop. After several hours, Korvai had managed to talk him down to a more middle-of-the-range set, and they had left the exhausted storekeeper alone.

“Me? Fine. You're not sick, are you, Korvai? Would you like to go lie down? You've been so busy lately, are you sure you’re alright?” 

Korvai rolled his eyes, exchanging a helpless glance with Magnus, who lifted his hands in mock surrender.

Rallon chuckled. “Lad’s fine, no thanks to you. Stop projecting on to him.”

“I'm not projecting!” Theta insisted.

“Really,” Korvai monotoned drily. “You asked me if I was nervous on the way in. You should be entertaining ridiculous worries like wondering if Patience isn't going to show up, not mother henning your former apprentice who graduated a decade ago.”

“Of course she’ll turn up? Why wouldn’t she turn up?” the Doctor rambled. “I mean, I suppose it’s very difficult for her, being her second marriage and all, and after everything that happened with Omega, but she wouldn’t stand me up. Not on our wedding day. She’s far too kind for that, if she was going to call it off she would have done it already.” 

“Wow, you’ve thought about it, haven’t you?” Korvai murmured. 

For a moment, Theta glared at him, before a shiver ran down his spine. “What if something happened to Patience on the way…?”

“Relax, she’s fine,” Magnus assured him. “Everyone’s fine.”

“In fact, she’s here,” Rallon said, as a message came onto his communicator. He indicated towards the large doors. “Shall we?”

Theta looked as though he was going to faint. “Wait-- Wait!”

Korvai grinned, and wasted no time in pushing his former mentor forward, whilst Rallon and Magnus pushed open the doors. Moments later, Theta found himself standing alone and disoriented in the ornate hall. When Korvai appeared at his elbow, he breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward, eyes meeting those of his bride, who stood, dressed in dark green satin and velvet, supported by Millennia, her own former apprentice, Veera, and her daughter, Sahna. 

Steadily and solemnly, they strode over to each other, flanked by their respective parties. 

When they came to face each other, the Doctor removed the wedding ribbon from his pocket and held it out to Patience. She, in turn, took out a silver ribbon and held it out to him. The vows were quickly exchanged, as they entwined the ribbons together. Afterward, Korvai took the ribbons and tied their wrists together, as the ceremony was completed.

The room erupted in applause, and Korvai scanned the crowd. He recognised many respectable and less-respectable Time Lords, from the council, the Academy and others. Almost all of the Deca were there. Even Drax was there in disguise, the now-rogue Time Lord sitting in the back, next to Joss Voon (risky), his former apprentice and a close friend of Korvai. They’d moved planets to send an invitation to Koschei, although so far, Korvai couldn’t see him. Not surprising, really. Still, it was saddening. Korvai had hoped he’d show up, even if only so Korvai could punch him in the face. Or watch Theta punch him in the face. That’d be the dream.

Swirling his glass of (admittedly very potent) Gallifreyan wine, Korvai eased his way through the crowd, in search of somewhere non-awkward to stand. Joss was having a meaningful conversation with Drax for the first time in a long time. Theta was, of course, focused on his new bride and Korvai wouldn't change that for anything. He couldn't seem to find any of his other friends. In the corner of the room he saw Veera and Sahna. Sighing, he made his way over to them. He had to get to know them at some point.

He stood awkwardly by a nearby table, waiting for them to notice him. After a moment, he drew a nervous breath and strode over. “Veera and Sahna, right?” he smiled at the pair, kicking himself internally. Of course they knew he knew who they were, they had been ten feet away throughout the ceremony.

“That’s us,” Veera smiled, extending her hand towards him. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Captain.”

Without meaning to, Korvai made a face. “Likewise. But please, just call me Korvai.”

“Hi, Korvai,” Sahna smiled, waving slightly. “I’m Sahna.”

“Hi, Sahna,” Korvai replied, glad to not be the most awkward person present. A moment of silence hung over them. “So, uh—" Korvai stuttered, “did you enjoy the ceremony?”

“It was lovely,” Veera replied, and Sahna nodded in agreement. “What did you think?”

“Me? Oh, yeah. Beautiful,” Korvai replied. Once again, silence settled over the unsuspecting trio. “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” he continued, willing to try anything to interrupt the silence.”I’ve only been Captain for a few weeks.”

“Despite not technically being connected to any military organisation, yes,” Veera smiled. 

“There was an article in my school newsreader,” Sahna explained.”I think we went to the same school-- well, according to Mum we did. And the article.”

Korvai winced. “Yes, this article. I haven’t seen it, is it awful?”

“The opposite!” Sahna said earnestly. “Nothing but glowing praise, promise.”

Korvai buried his head in his hands. “That’s even worse!” he protested, looking back up at the others with a lopsided grin. “It’s all lies, you know, every word of it.”

Sahna bit her bottom lip, and leant sideways awkwardly, eyes fleeting towards Veera, and then forebodingly back to Korvai.

Veera smiled thinly. “I know you’re trying to be modest,  _ Captain _ ,” she informed him airily, “But that’s my father you’re calling a liar. Unless you really meant to call him incompetent, deluded, naive or a cash-grabbing sensationalist story mongerer?”

Korvai’s eyes widened. “Veera, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… I didn’t know… I just meant…”

Veera held his gaze for a moment, meeting his desperate backpedaling with her own cool glare, before turning away chuckling.

Sahna treated her to a glare of her own. “You’re so mean.”

“I know,” Veera smiled. “I’m sorry,”

Korvai sighed in fond exasperation. “Don’t worry, I get enough of it with him,” he said, nodding meaningfully at the Doctor, whose attention was fixated on Patience like she was the only woman in the universe. “So it’s not exactly something I’m a stranger to.”

“From  _ the Doctor _ ?” Sahna asked, incredulous. “Mum always says that he was one of the nicest ones.”

“To a point,” Korvai answered. “And he is, for sure, but he’s also pretty keen on knocking the wind out of your sails if he thinks you need it.”

“Okay, okay,” Veera grinned, plucking two more glasses of Gallifreyan wine from the ornate hanging table and handing one to Korvai. “I want to hear  _ examples.” _

Korvai grinned. “Well, on one occasion…”

His sentence was cut short as an arm shot out from behind him, plucking his drink from his hand. Korvai spun around to see the Time Lord himself, the man of the hour. “I think three glasses is quite enough, don’t you? Dinner hasn’t even started yet, and I’d hate to hear what you wouldn’t leave out of my toast if you were inebriated.”

Korvai sighed dramatically. “I was hardly going to get drunk, Doctor,” he returned.

“I’ve heard that one before, the Doctor muttered.

Korvai shook his head. “How do you know I’ve had three glasses? Shouldn’t you be with Patience, not spying on me?”

“Just because you graduated doesn’t mean I’m going to stop keeping an eye on you,” the Doctor replied.

“How old am I,” Korvai grumbled goodnaturedly.

“Good question,” The Doctor replied “That information would allow us to calculate how old you were the first time I caught you smuggling four bottles of  _ that very substance  _ into—"

“Yeah, yeah,” Korvai smiled, giving his mentor a playful shove in the opposite direction. “Go, get back to your wife.”

“Okay, but remember, I’m watching you,” the Doctor warned, a smile playing at his lips. “I’ll see you later, Veera, Sahna.”

“How could I forget,” Korvai returned ironically.

“Was that an example?” Sahna grinned.

“I still want to hear more, regardless,” Veera added. “On another note, how old  _ were  _ you when you smuggled all that wine? Where were you taking it?”

“Back to my room, so I could drink it over the course of the weekend,” Korvai replied. “And I was ninety-nine. Not quite so exciting.”

“Then tell us something exciting!” Veera pushed. “You promised examples, remember?”

“Hmm, pretty sure I didn’t,” Korvai replied, but began nonetheless. “Look, I’m no good with remembering stories to order—particularly because I’ve got way too many to choose from, mostly of me being ‘reckless, or impatient,’” he said, the last couple of words obviously a quote from his mentor, “or just plain stupid. But the one that comes to mind now was that one time when we were on a mission on Daian-Shar. Thing is, it wasn’t the mission itself that was the problem—that all went fine, actually, thanks to yours truly pulling what I can only describe as a frankly spectacular trick with the Doctor’s TARDIS—it was the easy bit afterwards. Naturally I didn’t want to give up the TARDIS controls, so I was piloting her back to Gallifrey. I’d done so well on the mission, though—if I do say so myself—that I was feeling a bit too cocky, and didn’t realise until too late that I’d forgotten to restore the usual console settings.”

“Uh oh,” Veera interjected with a raised eyebrow. “What did you do?”

Korvai smiled crookedly. “I mightn’t have put the dematerialisation buffers back on, so I, uh, may or may not have parked her in the middle of a wall.”

“You didn’t,” Sahna breathed in disbelief, eyes sparkling. “Stars above, Korvai, tell me you didn’t.”

Veera was laughing openly. “Isn’t that the first thing we get taught at the Academy, in piloting classes? How not to get your travel capsule completely stuck?” She shook her head, her broad grin showing no sign of leaving her face. “Well well well, the great Captain Korvai, making the most basic of rookie mistakes. No doubt the press would have a field day with that one, it’d be a shame if they ever got hold of it… Oh wait!” she said brightly, as if remembering her own connections, before dissolving into laughter once more. 

“So, what did the Doctor say?” Sahna asked.

Korvai shook his head ruefully. “Oh, he didn’t hold back,” he answered. “And what made it worse was, to add insult to injury, he just left the TARDIS there, in the wall, until the next time we had to go on a mission. Didn’t want to move it or anything, even when it was an absolute pain in the backside—he just let it stay there, mocking me. And he didn’t give me the keys so I could move it, either! Said I had to live with the fruits of my mistakes.”

“That sounds like something Patience would do actually,” Veera chuckled. “I was in a rush and took some… shortcuts fixing the chameleon circuit on my hyper-speeder, in the second last year of my apprenticeship. So, uh, it got fried and stuck as a  _ latrine.” _

Sahna burst out laughing.

“It didn’t,” Korvai chuckled. “That’s way worse than mine,”

“Ye- yes,” Sahna added, between giggles. “It really is,”

Veera eyed her sardonically. “Yeah, don’t pretend like you don’t remember this, I saw you taking photos.” She turned to Korvai. “You know the only reason I’m telling you this is if I don’t,  _ she  _ will tell you a very sensationalized version.”

“Who, me?” Sahna replied, widening her eyes angelically. “Why would I remember you knocking on our door, drenched in a very strange-looking and smelling grease and begging for Mum?”

Veera glared at her. “Yes well,” she continued. “I hid it in the forest, several yards behind the house, and tried to fix it myself. But—uh, I only managed to increase its range in the process, so it affected the immediate surroundings… the ground, the grease I was covered in…”

Korvai shook his head. “Tell me you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”

“Oh, she is,” Sahna nodded seriously. “She knocked on the door, was calling for Mum. We told her to come in, and she just goes, ‘I can’t! So I open the door and find her absolutely dripping in  _ faeces.” _

Korvai’s jaw dropped. “That—that sounds horrible.”

“It was,” Veera nodded glumly. “Patience lived up to her name. Got me cleaned up, found me fresh clothes and left me to sleep while she trekked the hour’s walk out to my speeder. She cleaned it up and brought it back. But,” she grinned. “I had a lot, and I mean a lot, of errands to run the next week, including a lot of deliveries for Dad. And she wouldn’t help me with the chameleon circuit to restore it back to normal. So for an entire week, I was driving around in a latrine.”

“May I state for the record that I advocated for her helping you fix it the next day?” Sahna added.

“You may, thanks for trying, Sahna,” Veera smiled.


	6. The Doctor's Apprentice - Chapter Four

After several hours of enduring torturous small-talk with various guests, the time finally came for the bridal party to take their seats, much to Korvai's relief. He couldn’t really blame Joss, but damn Lorzo, Jazzlin and Adross for not coming to his rescue. For some reason, everyone wanted to talk to the Best Man and adopted son of the groom. A quick glance and a wry smile from Veera indicated she and Sahna had had a similar afternoon. At least people left the bride and groom be for the evening—or perhaps not, given Theta’s stormy looks. 

Ah, well, he’d have to rectify that.

He glanced up at the clock. Fifteen minutes until he was scheduled to chime in with his “surprise” best-man speech. Ah well, close enough.

Leaning back in his cushioned chair, he began to tap his knife against his glass, letting it chime throughout the hall and bringing the crowds to attention table by table. 

The Doctor glowered at him. “What are you doing? It’s not time yet!”

“Time for what?” Korvai’s eyes widened innocently. 

“You know what I mean.” the Doctor hissed back. 

Korvai smirked. “But you’re not supposed to.”

“Fine,” the Doctor grunted. “But get on with it.”

“Why thank you, sir,” Korvai grinned, his half-bow dripping with fake courtesy.

At last, the final table fell silent.

“Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereof,” Korvai began, smiling, swirling his wine. “We are gathered here today to celebrate that somehow, this old prick managed to find someone besides me willing to put up with him enough to live with him.” He raised his glass to his glowering mentor. “You know,” he added conversationally, “I’m kind of surprised and pleased I’ve managed to keep this glass for a whole hour. Usually he swipes them the second I pour myself some good Gallifreyan wine, which is a real pain. Just because I smuggled some home when I was still underage—and his apprentice.” He sent a winning smile towards his smouldering mentor, whose lips, despite himself, were beginning to turn at the corners. “You do realize I’m of age, don’t you, Theta, or Doctor, or whatever you like to be called nowadays. Have been for a couple of decades now. And that I haven’t even lived with you since graduating my apprenticeship.”

“And yet, you still seem to come round every meal time.” 

“Wouldn’t want you to miss me too much, old man,” Korvai grinned. “You know, going back to what I was saying before, Patience is like me in that she’s actually willing to put up with living with him, which, Patience, I know I’ve warned you already, but it’s going to be a struggle. But she’s also not like me at all, You see, she’s actually  _ choosing  _ to. I on the other hand, did certainly not choose anything of the sort.” He let the laughter fall into silence, and left it to linger for a moment. “But I suppose, that’s the point. I had no choice, nowhere to turn, nowhere to go. But he did. He chose to take me in, care for me like his own son. He saw potential in me when no-one else did, not even my own family. I like to think that I’ve managed to repay him—gods know I’ve saved his skin quite a few times over the years, particularly that one time on Santanos IX—"

“I thought we agreed to  _ never _ speak of that again,” the Doctor interrupted quickly, a blush rising in his cheeks, much to the amusement of his guests.

Korvai’s answering smile was wickedly amused. “As you speak, I shall obey,” he said, forcing his smirk into an expression that was the model of innocence, before turning sincere once again. “But really, despite what I like to believe, I don’t think I can ever fully repay Theta for what he did for me. He believed in me when nobody else would, he trusted me, and he—well, he loved me like his own. Theta Sigma is the Time Lord with the biggest hearts I’ve ever known, and so it gives me the greatest joy to see that he’s found someone whose capacity for love can rival even his. Theta, Patience—the two of you complement each other in the best possible ways, and I know you’ll make each other incredibly happy. You’re both brilliant, loyal, steadfast, and uncompromising in doing the right thing—and you have the deepest, fiercest love that I’ve ever seen. I’m honoured to know you both, and I hope that your married life only makes the pair of you stronger.

“And so,” Korvai finished, a wide grin spreading across his face. “To finish—"   
But he never did finish. 

A deafening crack resounded around the hall. “What in hell…” Korvai murmured, the microphone still picking up his words. A moment later, the ringing in his ears grew louder, and it continued to grow more and more deafening as stars began to swirl around him. Vaguely, he was aware of the Doctor pulling him back down into his seat. He allowed his old mentor to fuss over him for a moment, as he sought eye-contact with Veera. Finally, he received a short nod from the bridesmaid, who then turned to her own former mentor. 

“We’re going to go check this out,” he told the Doctor. “You stay here, unless you don’t think it’s safe.”

Without waiting for a reply, he vaulted up and over the table. A moment later, Veera was at his side, and the two of them hurried out, trying to reassure guests as they went.

“Okay,” Veera huffed as they finally stepped outside into the cold, night air. “Time to find out what the hell just happened.” Turning on their heels, they surveyed the hall from the outside.

“... huh.” Korvai muttured. Given the chaos, the way the entire room had shaken, they’d expected at least some damage. Actually, they had expected to need to evacuate, but had come out to determine the best way of doing so. Both of them had seen too many disasters to make the rookie mistake of evacuating everyone at once, before determining exactly what the damage was. 

“What in the stars…” Veera hissed.

“You’re telling me,” Korvai agreed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did my little surprise frighten you?” A deep voice shook them from their reverie. “Dear me, I only meant to send my regards to the bride and groom.”

Slowly, the pair turned on their heels, coming face to face with a man dressed in robes even more ornate than those of the bridegroom. 

Korvai glanced at his companion, an odd calm settling over him, his years of training rising to the surface, guiding him. He had spent years training, at the Academy, with the military and with the Doctor. Negotiating with hostiles was one of his areas of specialty. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

“Good evening,” he greeted, keeping his tone serious yet not unfriendly. “I am Captain-- “

“Korvai, Korvai, Korvai,” the stranger drawled. “I know exactly who you are, baby Time Lord. And lovely little Miss Veera, here. I did my research, after all.

“Then I’m afraid you have the advantage on us,” Korvai replied.

“What?” the strange man pouted. “Oh,  _ come on. _ Mummy and Daddy  _ must  _ have told you about me. I practically brought them together, after all. I--” his features lit up--“am the Celestial Toymaker!”

“Sorry,” Veera replied, “not ringing any bells.”

“Oh, come on,” the Celestial Toymaker interrupted. “They MUST have mentioned me! When did they first meet? When the three of us were assigned on a mission together. When were they engaged. Again, when they were on a mission with—me! Frankly, not getting an invitation was downright offensive,”

“Must have slipped their minds, old man and woman that they are,” Korvai shrugged. “Don’t be too upset. When they came back from the last mission, Theta at least was too busy telling me about his engagement. And—"

“And lecturing you about stealing ships from junkyards and taking them out on illegal missions despite a no-flight warning,” the Celestial Toymaker whined. “Dammit, Korvai. Why you gotta steal my thunder.”    
“Sorry about that,” Korvai shrugged. “I see you’ve been to Earth,” he observed, studying their mysterious adversary’s outfit. “Very nice, but a little culturally inappropriate, don’t you think?”

“Oh, plenty of trinkets,” the Toymaker replied. “But a rather dull place, really.”

“I’m sure,” Korvai replied drily. “But have you tried gelato?”

“Veera? What’s going on?” They turned to a woman he didn’t recognize behind him, followed closely by Joss Voon and Julio Nichols. “What’s going on?” 

“Oh, more baby Deca!” The Toymaker clapped his hands. “Well, this has been lovely, but I must be off. I will be seeing you soon,” he promised. A moment later, he was gone.

“What the hell was that?” the woman demanded.

Veera sighed. “Korvai, Romana. Romana, Korvai.”

“Pleasure,” Korvai nodded drily

“Likewise, what happened here?” Romana demanded again. 

“I’m—not exactly sure.” Veera replied, glancing sideways at Korvai. “But I suspect the happy couple might be able to shed some light.”

Julio, meanwhile, had been examining the building. “There doesn’t appear to be any damage, but—scan anyway?”

“Sure thing,” Romana agreed, and the pair began unpacking their equipment.

Joss nudged Korvai. “You and Veera should go back in, before--”

“Before the  _ happy couple _ do some actual damage? Yeah,” Korvai agreed, glancing at Veera, who nodded.

“Before you do, though,” Romana said quickly, looking up from her scanner, “May I hear your opinion on something? It won’t take long, I promise, and you can get back to placating the newlyweds soon enough. I’ve noticed some strange readings, and I know you both have a good deal of experience with… well, unorthodox missions, shall I say.”

Korvai grinned ruefully. ‘Unorthodox’ was certainly one way to describe his apprenticeship and subsequent career. He’d heard of Romana, even if he hadn’t met her, and the tact she displayed even now would help her to go far on her chosen path. 

“This Toymaker person seems like he might be trouble, and I’d like to get whatever he may have left behind sorted out before it becomes a real problem.”

“Good point,” Korvai agreed, Veera likewise nodding her agreement. “Show us the readings, then—I’d rather not give Theta anything else to complain about today, and leaving something like this open will probably do that.”

“Wonderful, thank you,” Romana said with a smile. “Look, the readings will probably be most understandable if I bring them up on a proper screen, with decent analysis equipment—do you mind popping into my TT capsule for a moment? I’ve just parked her over here.”

With the faintest of shrugs, Korvai and Veera followed the woman.

However, as soon as the pair entered the TT capsule, it was clear to them that something was very wrong. The console wasn’t active, and only the barest traces of light illuminated the control room.

“What’s going on?” Korvai demanded, instantly suspicious. “Romana?”

The Time Lady didn’t answer.

“Romana?” Korvai asked again, his voice sharper, then stiffened as a hand touched his arm. 

“I don’t think Romana is in a particularly good position to be explaining anything right now,” Veera whispered, motioning for her friend to look at the other side of the console. The dim glow of the time rotor provided barely enough light for Korvai to see anything clearly, but he could still make out Romana’s silhouette on the far side of the control room, standing absolutely motionless, as if frozen solid. 

“What the--?” Korvai muttered, cautiously moving closer to the immobile figure. As he peered into the darkness, and his eyes adjusted, he was worried to find that he could make out no more detail in Romana’s features than when he was standing on the other side of the room. 

“This isn’t Romana,” he said slowly. While a good enough facsimile to fool even Korvai from a distance, the closer he got, the less detail he saw. Romana, or the figure that had replaced her, was nothing more than a lifeless shell, with its generic face as expressionless as that of--

“A doll,” Veera breathed. She, too, had crept closer to examine the thing they’d followed into the TT capsule. “It’s like somebody’s made a doll to look like Romana—it’s good, but not quite perfect.”

“Very good, little Patience,” interrupted a familiar voice. Korvai and Veera whirled to see the Celestial Toymaker lounging against the railing of the console’s upper floor. “I do take offence to what you said about my doll, though—it was certainly good enough to get you here, wasn’t it?”

“You again,” Korvai hissed.

The Toymaker rolled his eyes. “I did say I’d see you soon, didn’t I?” he said. “And this time, the meeting is going to be on my terms, following my rules. The rules of the game, as it were. And speaking of games, would you like to see my Toyroom?”

Before either of the Time Lords had a chance to reply, the TT capsule melted away. The last thing Korvai saw before an infinite blackness overwhelmed him, was the Romana doll starting to fall, unable to stand on its own for any longer. 

In as much time as it took for the doll to fall, the blackness resolved itself into a vast room, surrounded wall to wall by vacant, empty-eyed marionettes. The Toymaker smiled lazily as the Romana doll clattered to the floor, the sharp noise of porcelain on tile causing both Korvai and Veera to start.

“We’re going to play a little game,” the Toymaker said, his delight at his captives’ uncertainty showing clear on his face. “And like in all good games, there can only be one winner. That winner,” he declared as he spun around in his chair, “is whoever gets their mummy or daddy to come first. They get to go free, in exchange for mummy or daddy. Are we ready to play?”

“Where are we?” Veera demanded.

“Don’t you listen?” the Toymaker asked in return. “And here was me thinking you were the smart one. You’re in my Toyroom, little Patience. You have been, ever since you crossed the threshold of that TT capsule back on Gallifrey.”

“You’re not going to be any more specific than that?” Korvai asked angrily.

The Toymaker merely shrugged, a languid move that rippled the fabric of his Oriental-style coat, and set Korvai’s teeth on edge.

“Then how do you expect us to contact anybody?” the young Time Lord protested. “We could be anywhere in the universe, and you want us to bring people to you? Not that we would, anyway, but you’re not exactly making it easy to get what you want.”

“Every game requires some imagination,” the Toymaker replied. “Otherwise it would just be boring. So, use your imaginations, little Deca. Make this a game worth playing.”

“And if we don’t want to play your... games?” Veera asked, her eyes steely.

“Well, then,” the Toymaker said, with another infuriating shrug. “I would have preferred to have the members of the original Deca in my collection, but the second generation will just have to do.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Korvai grunted. “It’s not happening. We’re not doing it.”

“Oh, please,” the Toymaker rolled his eyes. “You didn’t really think I was talking about  _ you,  _ did you? My, my, the arrogance. Come now.” He leaned in, far too close for comfort, making their skins crawl. “We all know that, whatever you two vagrants try to tell yourselves, you’re not really their successors, much less their children.”

“Go to hell,” Korvai spat.

“Tempting, but it does get boring after a while,” the Toymaker replied. “Now, if you would look to your right, I think you’ll find my newest exhibit to be quite a lovely incentive.”

The pair craned their heads as the ground several meters away began to open, and a glass case slowly rose into view.

Veera’s eyes widened. “No,” she gasped hoarsely. “No! You bastard!”

“Well, isn’t that ironic,” the Toymaker chuckled, “since I’m the only one in this room who isn’t. Besides the girl in the glass, of course. Play my game, and she goes free.”

Korvai glanced at Veera, but her eyes were fixated on her surrogate sister, and was unresponsive to any non-verbal communication. “Fine,” he grunted. “We’ll play.”

\---

“Sit down, Thete,” Drax growled. “I’m sure they’re  _ fine.”  _

“You don’t get it. It’s Korvai!” Theta rambled. “If there’s one tiny,  _ inchling  _ of a chance, he could be in trouble, he’s in trouble.”

“Stars, you’re a hypocrite,” Patience huffed. “Do try to relax.”

Millennia raised an eyebrow at this. “Indeed. Patience, may I invite you to stop pacing?”

Patience glared at her, but nevertheless took the offered seat. 

“Hold on,” Ushas interrupted. “We’ve got a transmission from the GES.*”

“Oh, excellent,” Drax replied mirthlessly. “They finally deigned to respond to our little hiccup, did they?”

“Yeah, yeah, do try to hold your tongue whilst I take this call,” Ushas replied, tapping her communicator. “Hello. This is Ushas speaking.”

“Ushas, this is Officer Marcoglaan of the Galactic Emergency Services,” a voice replied. “We received your initial situation report. Is there anything you would like to add?”

“Only that we have a few registered Time Lords outside running scans,” Ushas replied.

“Good to know,” Marcoglaan replied. “Can you tell me their names, please?”

“Korvai and Veera went out first,” Ushas replied. “We later sent Joss Voon, Julio Nicholls and Lady Romanadvoratrelundar out after them.”

From the other end of the communicator came silence. “Lady Romanadvoratrelundar, did you say?” Marcoglaan finally asked, sounding shocked.

“Yes, the very same,” Ushas replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Because she’s been missing for seven months. Disappeared on a council mission” Marcoglaan replied. “Are you sure it was her?”

Ushas’s blood ran cold. “Perhaps it was somebody else—I’ll check with the hosts and call you back.”

Without waiting for a reply, she threw her communicator down. “Romana’s been missing. Seven months.”

Shocked silence hung over the room. “So who was at the wedding? Who the hell went out with Julio and Joss?”

*Galactic Emergency Services


	7. The Doctor's Apprentice - Chapter Five

_ Korvai woke with a gasp he hastily stifled, years of habit kicking in to keep him from disturbing anybody else in his instinctive reactions to his nightmares. He needn’t have bothered, though—the experiences they’d shared had left his wife as light a sleeper as he was himself, and with more than a few memories of her own to haunt her sleep. _

_ Veera took Korvai’s hand in her own, blinking the last traces of sleep from her wide, dark eyes. “Bad dream?” she asked quietly. _

_ Korvai nodded, gazing back at her for a moment before he trusted himself to speak. “We were back with the Celestial Toymaker,” he said eventually. “All those years ago. Only, we didn’t escape, this time. And he’d captured Sahna, too, so we were forced to play his sick game.” _

_ “It’s okay,” Veera reassured him. “We made it out, remember? Theta and Patience came after us, but we’d already taken the Toymaker down ourselves. All they had to do was give us the lift back home.” _

_ “That’s right,” Korvai said with a faint smile, remembering. “You always know what to say.” _

_ “It’s what I have to tell myself now and then, too,” Veera replied. “You didn’t wake me, you know—I had the same dream. I must have woken myself up just before you. So, yeah, I think I needed to hear it as much as you did.” _

_ Korvai squeezed her hand, his eyes on hers. “We’re safe, and we’re together,” he said. “That’s what matters.” _

_ Veera smiled softly in agreement, returning the comforting pressure. _

_ “Interesting that we had the same dream, though,” Korvai said. “Something must have brought it on—some kind of trigger we both saw.” _

_ “Who knows,” Veera replied. “We’ve been through so much, it could have been anything.” _

\---

“Why hello, baby Deca,” drawled the slimy tones of the man they thought they’d escaped. Groaning, Korvai rolled onto his side, taking in Veera’s dishevelled form. “I’ve missed you, whilst you slumbered. And I’m afraid now I must scold you. Running away like that? You had me worried sick.”

Somehow, Korvai didn’t quite think the Celestial Toymaker had experienced the same unsettlement in the stomach as he was currently. 

From beside him, he heard his companion utter a stream of profanities that would have gotten her suspended from the academy in the blink of an eye.

“What language!” the Toymaker gasped in mock offence. “And to think I bought the pair of you so many new toys!”

Korvai’s blood ran cold. “What toys?”

“Let me show you,” the Toymaker replied, seizing them by the arms and ushering them to the other sides of the room. Linen sheets hung over tall structures, falling unnaturally lightly to the ground like American ghosts. 

“Now, now, this was going to be a surprise, but now I think we’ll have to push these out into the Untempered Schism for your bad behaviour,” The Toymaker cooed. “But first, you need to see what I was going to get you. Maybe you’ll behave a little better in future.” He rounded on Veera. “Well, go on. Pull off the sheets.”

As Veera tugged on the end of the first of the sheets, it was as if the world operated in slow motion. Slowly, but surely, the sheets fell away from the items they obscured, and gently folded, and crumpled at their feet, landing with an mellow thud. In their place, they revealed an exquisite glass case, embedded with all kinds of jewels and ornaments.

And nestled inside the case, her eyes gently resting, and her head leaning softly against a silk white pillow, was Sahna.

\---

_ Several centuries later _

_ “Never. Do that. Again.” Patience glared, before lunging forward to gather her former apprentice and her consort in her arms, just as she’d done all those years ago when they’d found them panting and sprinting, without shoes, food and water, on that godforsaken desert planet. “Stars, I’ve missed you both.” _

_ “I haven’t,” Theta grimaced, leaning against the doorway. “Ignorance is bliss when it comes to those two.” _

_ “Not for me. I’ve learnt to assume the worst,,” Patience laughed. She frowned at her former apprentice’s lack of reaction. “What, no response?” She swivelled back around, to find the Defier and the Warlock slumped over each other, tenderly embracing, sound asleep.  _

_ Theta grinned. “Let’s leave these lovebirds alone, shall we?” _

_ “I don’t know,” Patience smiled, moving towards her husband and snaking a hand around his neck. “I think they’ve given me some ideas.” _

_ The Doctor smiled, pulling his wife closer towards him. _

_ “Veera still blames herself for Sahna,” Patience told him sadly. _

_ “How do you know?” The Doctor asked. _

_ “I miss my poor Sahna more than anything,” Patience replied. “But she’s gone, and she’d want us to move on. And I have. But Veera, even after all these years—" she held back a sob. “She still can’t look me in the eye.” _

\---

_ Several centuries earlier _

“What the hell is wrong with you!” Veera shouted, tears forming in her eyes.

“You’re on thin ice, young lady,” The Toymaker replied. “How about this. I let you keep one of the toys. Just one. Or,” he grinned. “You can play a little game with me. If you win, you keep them all. If I win, they all go into the schism.”

Veera and Korvai glanced at each other, before stepping forward, and pulling away the remaining sheets.

Korvai’s heart clenched when the first face his eyes fell upon was Joss. A glance to the side showed he wasn’t the only one. Julio was there too, and Alleeva. And Jazzlin, Lorzo and Adros. All the proteges of the Deca lay before them, trapped in the same glass cage. There were others, including Romana, trapped in a third cage, and judging from Veera’s spellstruck face as she gazed into the third cage, they were known to her.

Korvai felt sick to his stomach, fear and outrage and fury swirling under his skin. “You’re asking us to gamble with our friends’ lives!”

“Naturally,” the Toymaker replied casually. “The highest stakes are always the most fun.”

“You’ll stand by your terms?” Korvai demanded. “Whatever we decide, you’ll honour your agreement?”

The Toymaker’s smile was as slick as oil on water, and as dangerous. “I’m a man of my word,” he assured the pair. “It’s a big decision for you to make, and whatever you decide, I’ll honour it. And look! To show you my goodwill, I’ll even let you have a few minutes to discuss it, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, I don’t think,” Korvai growled, before Veera caught his arm and shot him a meaningful glance. 

“Yes, thank you,” she replied to the Toymaker, her voice even. She seemed to have taken his warning to heart—Korvai could see that there was a dangerous calm in her eyes, the calm of someone who had locked their emotions away to deal with the job at hand. Korvai knew that look very well indeed. When Veera could let herself feel again, the pain would likely tear her apart—and he silently resolved to not let her be alone when that happened.

The Toymaker smiled again. “Very well,” he said simply. “You have two minutes, no more.”

“We have an equal chance of freeing everyone, or damning them all,” Veera said slowly, once she and Korvai were alone. “Or we could definitely save someone—but only one person. What kind of choice is that?”

“I wouldn’t call it an equal chance,” Korvai said quietly. “Not with him, not with what he’s done so far. This game, whatever it is, would be rigged. We wouldn’t have the faintest chance of getting them all out.” 

“So we have to decide who to save?” Veera asked, gesturing at the glass cases around them. “One person, out of everyone? Could you make that decision, Korvai? Because I can’t, I know I can’t!”

Korvai was silent, his eyes fixed on some faraway point.

“And how do you know that he’d let us save them?” Veera continued. “Promise or no, I wouldn’t trust this bastard as far as I could throw him!”

“Maybe we don’t have to trust him,” Korvai murmured, still deep in thought. “Maybe there is a way.”

“Like what?” Veera asked. She’d caught the change in Korvai’s tone, sensed the faint spark of a plan, and felt her own mood lift slightly in response. 

“He knows what this means to us,” he said. “He knows we’ll be playing to win, and he’ll rig the game so that we get thwarted at every turn. But we know it’ll be rigged, so we won’t play by his rules.” 

“So… we don’t play to win,” Veera realised, the same idea dawning on her as it had on Korvai.

“Exactly,” he replied. “We play to create chaos. If we upset his system, we’ll level the playing field. And then—"

“And then, we actually  _ can _ beat him,” Veera finished. “So, we’re decided? We play his game?”

Korvai’s eyes were steely. “We play his game. And we win.”

“Time’s up, baby Deca!” the Toymaker’s gleeful voice called. He swept back into the room, the ornate embroidery of his coat whispering as it scratched against the polished floor. “So, what’s it going to be?”

“We’ll play,” Korvai said, his voice cracking on the words as he caught another glimpse of Joss’s unnaturally still face out of the corner of his eye. 

“What was that?” the Toymaker asked in a coo, his voice sickeningly sweet.

Korvai moistened his dry lips, and repeated himself firmly. “We’ll play.”

“Oh,  _ excellent _ ,” the Toymaker purred. “And here I was, so worried that you were going to disappoint me.”

“We wouldn’t dream of it,” Veera smiled grimly, rising to stand next to Korvai. “How do we play?”

“Wrong question,” the Toymaker smirked.

Korvai’s eyes narrowed. “How do we win?”

“Better. Well, now, it’s a very simple game, everyone gets to play,” the Toymaker grinned. “Just a simple rendition of musical chairs. There’s just one alteration. He reached up, and waved his hand. A sensor flashed, and a large, ominously shimmering globe appeared around them. “We’re going to play in this ElectroGlobe here. A second after the music stops there’s a shock, and well, if you haven’t found yourself a safe seat—Bzzzzzzzzzip! ”

“But you said if we won, they got to go!” Veera yelled. “How does that work, if you’re just going to kill them?”

“Not quite, Veera, dear,” the Toymaker replied, reaching out to gently stroke her cheek. “I said you got to  _ keep  _ them, and I have no intention of letting  _ you  _ go. But, the shocks won’t kill you. They’ll just hurt you very, very badly. But, there’s a perk. If you wish to keep playing, you may.”

“Go to hell,” Korvai spat. 

“Very well then,” the Toykeeper smiled. “Be a dear and pull that green lever on the other side of the room for me, then? That activates the teleport I’ve got your so-called friends hooked up to.”

“Damn. You. To. Hell,” Korvai glared. “Fine. We’ll play.”

“Excellent,” the Toymaker smiled.

“Wait, you didn’t answer our question,” Veera added.

“Well, that’s simple,” the Toymaker replied. “Be the last two standing. Don’t get shocked.”

\---

The setup of the game was simple—plain wooden chairs arranged in a ring inside the dome, surrounding the two Time Lords and their petrified comrades. Well, Korvai amended, probably not actually wooden, considering the ease with which the Toymaker conjured them out of nothing, but a similarly non-conductive material nonetheless.  _ That's not important,  _ he thought angrily, shaking his head to clear it of distracting thoughts.  _ What's important is that we survive this.  _

“Are we ready, children?” the Toymaker asked, a sadistic twinkle in his eyes. “It doesn't really matter, though. Let's start the music!”

The air was filled with the sound of Tchaikovsky's  _ Dance of the Reed Pipes _ , and Korvai and Veera shared a panicked glance. 

“Come on, it's musical chairs!” the Toymaker called. “You're meant to dance to the music, it's no fun when you just stand there!”

Veera, her arms clasped round Romana’s prone body as she tried to manoeuvre her commander into a position on a chair, glared daggers at him, but said nothing. 

“Oh, alright then, I guess part of this  _ is _ my fault,” he said petulantly, and snapped his fingers. “Better?” he asked, as the frozen Time Lords rose as one and began to pirouette, spinning with a serene, eerie grace. Their faces showed no sign of consciousness even as their bodies performed the disturbing ballet, their minds clearly still switched off. For a moment, Korvai and Veera could only look on at the spectacle in horror. 

The Toymaker frowned impatiently. “Well, what's your excuse?” he said sharply. “Get to it!”

Shooting dubious looks at each other, Korvai and Veera started to pick up their feet in a hesitant foxtrot, to an approving nod from the Toymaker, and started moving towards their friends. Marshalling the dancers towards the chairs was a task the pair knew was necessary, but one made infinitely harder by the Toymaker’s command. They wouldn’t break from their spin for anything short of being physically moved, and started to whirl away once again as soon as they were left to their own devices. However, as frustrating as it was, and as slow, Korvai and Veera soon fell into a rhythm, working in tandem as the delicate music echoed around them. Veera was left guarding the dancers who had already been manhandled to chairs as Korvai made his way towards Julio, the last one still on the floor. 

“Hurry, now!” called the Toymaker gleefully. “Else I might just—"

Sensing the danger in his words, Korvai grabbed Julio and pushed her towards a gap in the ring. He sprinted after her, all thoughts of dancing forgotten.

“Do—"

Equally alarmed, Veera swung herself up into one of the last remaining chairs.

“Something—"

Knowing he had milliseconds left, Korvai dived towards the closest empty space and felt his hands close on cold wood, twisting himself into a seated position mid-vault.

“Like—"

Out of the corner of his eye, Korvai saw Julio come within a breath of the ring of chairs—almost touching, but not quite close enough—as in the same moment, Taloro stood, taking a step away from safety to pirouette anew.

“This!”

The music cut out. A deafening static ripped through the air, and the walls flashed white. Black figures silhouetted against the dome’s sudden brightness, Taloro and Julio crumpled to the floor.

“Well done, children,” the Toymaker said carelessly, once the cries of pain had died away. “But that was just a practice round.”

“You didn’t shock them?” Korvai asked, incredulous. The screams of his friends had seemed very real.

“Oh, of course I did,” the Toymaker replied. “I just won’t be so gentlemanly next time. You get one warning, over the course of the game, and that was it.”

“Bastard,” Korvai hissed.

The Toymaker merely smiled sweetly in response. “Now, let’s even up the chairs, shall we?” 

With a wave of his hand, the music started again. The chair Taloro had left empty disappeared, as did the one under Veera, sending her crashing to the ground. As she picked herself up off the floor, she saw the dancers rise.

“Keep them in the chairs!” she called to Korvai. “The closer we keep them, the more we can save!”

With a nod, Korvai darted up, herding the dancers closest to him back towards the ring.

“Oh, no,” the Toymaker said, frowning darkly. “No, no, no, baby Deca. Those aren’t the rules, not by a long shot. You need to leave your chairs, otherwise you’re not playing the game properly!”

“See if I care about your rules,” Korvai spat, pushing Alleeva, Romana and Adross, into seated positions.

The Toymaker pouted. “Now look what you’ve done! And after I said only one warning, too—you’ve made me be overgenerous!” In a blink, his sulky air disappeared, and his voice turned steely cold. “The rules are the rules, baby Deca, and you need to learn that.” 

The Toymaker clapped his hands sharply, and static cut the air once again. Korvai tensed, expecting the hideous pain of electrocution—but it didn’t come. Instead, Alleeva, Romana and Adross were no longer seated upright, but had slumped forwards in their now-glowing chairs, all three bodies smoking faintly. 

“You did that,” the Toymaker said, fixing Korvai with a look of mock regret. “You can’t cheat my game, you know, or there will be consequences.”

“No,” Korvai whispered. “No, you--you told us they’d be safe!”

“I didn’t tell you’d they’d be alive, children,” the Celestial Toymaker replied.

“Yes! You did!” Veera shouted.

“Did I? Well, I suppose I must have lied,” The Toymaker shrugged. “Or maybe I was telling the truth, and they’re still alive. I forbid you from checking, however—or they  _ will _ be dead. Oh, and one more thing—” 

He clicked his fingers, and the fallen Gallifreyans were swept away by some invisible force, their chairs vanishing. He clicked his fingers again, and two more chairs disappeared.

The music began again, and their undead companions resumed their eerie dance. 

Korvai and Veera stared at each other in shock. “Does-- do we have to choose who—” Veera stuttered. 

“Tick tock goes the clock”, the Toymaker called. 

The music stopped and Once again the wild scramble began, Korvai and Veera wrestling the others into their seats, barely to safety themselves, and watching the agony in the eyes of their dear friends. This continued for several more rounds, the Toymaker taking away a different number of chairs each time. Eventually the Toymaker groaned. “This is getting boring. Oh, I know!” His face lit up in jubilation. “Why dont I add just an extra degree of consciousness…” Suddenly, they were surrounded by a group of very aware and very frightened Time Lords. When the music stopped, Korvai and Veera found themselves unprepared, and had to scramble madly to overtake a legion of frantic allies. 

Veera, thankfully, was already very close to where she needed to be. Korvai almost didn’t make it.

There was one chair left, and another was about to rest upon it. Ruthlessly, Korvai raised his elbow and plunged it into his rival’s side, throwing him away. 

“Korvai?” Joss choked, staggering backward. “Why?”

For the first time, the roof lit up, revealing two large digits. 

“Ten”, the Toymakers voice rang out with glee. “Nine, Eight …”

Joss closed his eyes, clearly aware of what was coming.

“Seven, six...”

Only one chair had been taken away this round, so Joss stood alone.

“Five, four...”

Korvai sat in his stolen chair, watching helplessly as his dearest friend prepare himself.

“Three… Two… ONE!”

The countdown ended, and Joss’s body was thrown backwards, his face contorting into a blood-curdling scream. 

Korvai couldn't look away. His gaze was pinned to Joss’s eyes—accusing, disbelieving, agonized—then horribly blank. Those eyes pierced right to Korvai’s core, and he felt guilt settle about his shoulders, weighty as the formal collars of the Time Lords. 

_ I had to,  _ he reminded himself.  _ If we can save even one of them, we have to be alive to do so.  _ And even as his body jerked with the instinctive dry sob he couldn't suppress, a corner of his mind was running through the ruthless calculations. Eight Time Lords were left, including himself and Veera. Six more friends he'd have to watch suffer in agony, if not actually die, for the pair of them to win the game. And worst of all, one of them was--

_ Sahna.  _ Veera’s oldest friend, the daughter of her mentor, and one of the only people she wouldn't hesitate to move the heavens for. It hadn't escaped Korvai’s notice that Veera had done as much as she could to protect her friend, taking near-fatal risks to ensure that she wouldn't be stealing a seat from the younger woman. But it was all in vain, Korvai knew, just prolonging the inevitable. Sahna, too, would have to suffer the same fate as the others. And he also knew that if Veera had to do to her what he'd just done to Joss, she wouldn't recover. He liked the girl well enough, and he didn't want to see her go through any of that—but ensuring his and Veera’s survival at the expense of Sahna’s wouldn't destroy him like he knew it would Veera. Silently, he promised himself that he wouldn't let her go through the agony of causing her friend's suffering. Besides, he already had so much guilt weighing him down, one more soul on his conscience wouldn't change matters. And even if Veera hated him for it, Korvai would prepare to face the consequences. Having her hate him would be far better than letting her hate herself. 

The Toymaker's awful game continued, even as Korvai planned scenario after terrible scenario. The sadistic being took a clear delight in watching his captives fight against each other, all friendship and dignity left behind in the mad scramble for survival. There were no friends left, only rivals, Korvai thought, with the sickening realisation of how easy it had become to push his friends out of the way just to get to a chair first. Veera must have felt the same way, because it wasn't long until there were only three players left—the two of them, and, as he knew it would be, Sahna. 

They stared in horror as all but one chair dematerialized. Of course, Korvai cursed inwardly. The Celestial Toymaker was hardly going to let them win. 

The music recommenced, at a brisker, livelier, less relenting tempo, and the final participants resumed their feverish dance. Korvai glanced around him, searching each inch of the room for some other way of ending the game, some way of preventing what was to come.

The music stopped.

Korvai’s body erupted in pain beyond anything he’d ever felt before, every inch of him feeling as though it was being turned inside out, compressing what needed open space and forcing outward that which was kept within. His knees buckled, and moments later he found himself on the cold ground, unsure of how he had gotten there. Spots appeared in his vision, but they came all too slowly, gradually. 

He had fallen gracelessly, and through pure chance had landed with his chin propped at an angle so he could see the last remaining chair in the centre of his vision. The tableau in front of him was agonizingly tense, Veera and Sahna both with a hand on the chair, and both in mid-spring—so close and yet so far from its safety. But only one would be able to win. 

_ No, not that,  _ he thought in desperation.  _ Anything but that.  _ But try as he might, his rapidly fading strength made him powerless to look away. He could only watch helplessly, the passing milliseconds slowed to an almost-frozen crawl, as Veera looked at her oldest friend with a tangible sorrow—and for the briefest of moments, Korvai could sense her resolve waver. 

But the moment passed in an instant. The last thing Korvai saw before his eyes finally fluttered closed was Veera throwing out a hand, catching Sahna squarely in the chest and propelling the younger woman backwards, as she swung herself into the chair. And as everything faded to black, Korvai’s energy utterly spent by the pain overwhelming his body, two sounds washed over him: Sahna’s tortured screams, and underneath them, the bitter, heart-rending sobs of the one who caused them. 

\---

“And we have a winner!” the Toymaker announced jubilantly, apparently deaf to the quiet weeping that echoed in the silence of the dome. “Darling Veera, Patience 2.0, come forward to claim your prize!”

Veera glared at him with red-rimmed eyes, staying resolutely on her chair. 

“Come on, you silly little thing, you've won!” the Toymaker insisted, brandishing the shining trinket he held. “The floor’s safe, you can collect your prize—and what a fetching little number it is, too!”

“That's not what you promised,” Veera said, her voice raw. “That's not my friends.”

The Toymaker looked down at the diadem in his hands, as if noticing it for the first time. “It's not, is it? But then again, to win your friends, I said that you and Korvai had to be the last two standing, and… you weren't. Simple as that.”

“You're sick,” Veera hissed. “You never had any intention of making this a fair game!”

The Toymaker shrugged fluidly. “I don't make the rules,” he said with disinterest, before brightening. “Oh wait—yes, I do! But this was more fun, wasn't it?”

Veera didn't reply. Gingerly, she rose from her chair, and, after making sure it was safe, knelt beside Sahna. She was relieved to find a slow pulse, weak though it was. Unable to look at her surrogate sister for a moment longer, she ran to Korvai’s prone body, taking his head in her hands. “How touching,” the Toymaker mused, slowly walking to stand behind Veera. “But you did win my game, after all, and winners deserve their prizes.”

“I don’t care about your prizes,” Veera whispered bitterly, staring at Korvai’s lifeless face. “Actually, you know what would be a good reward? Just—go away. Leave us alone. If I don't see you for millennia, it will be too soon.”

The Toymaker smiled wolfishly as he bent to place the glittering circlet on Veera’s head. “Of course, little one,” he said softly. “Your wish is my command. Just allow me to bestow upon you your prize, now.”

Veera’s skin crawled as the tiara’s metal clasps combed her scalp. Her head grew heavy, her eyes drooped, and moments later she was slumped over Korvai’s chest, deep in slumber.


	8. The Doctor's Apprentice - Chapter Six

_ Despite the pain in their legs and the roaring in their throats, Korvai and Veera kept running (well, more like limping) through the barren wasteland, their bare, blistering feet thudding down onto the equally cracked, burning ground. They didn’t know where or when they were, only that they needed to get as far away as possible from Him. _

_ The last few hours blurred together in a whirlwind, and they thought not of the wedding, their capture, or their escape. The Toymaker may be shackled, trapped inside one of his own toys, although how they had done this they couldn’t remember, and of what he was still capable, they didn’t know. _

_ They didn’t remember their lives before the Toyroom, not really. They knew facts about their lives, as one might read in a particularly detailed biography. But their actual memories, those had been taken from them. _

_ And so they ran, with no destination in mind apart from Away. _

_ A faint humming could be heard underneath their heaving, although it was several seconds before they noticed, and a good many more before this humming gradually began to transform into words. _

_ “Veera! Korvai! Please, listen!” _

_ A man and a woman were running behind them, almost beside them now, begging them to stop. They were dressed in what had once been reminiscent of traditional Gallifreyan wedding attire, but was now torn, stained and dishevelled. _

_ “Korvai! Korvai, stop. Please. It’s us!” _

_ Gradually, Korvai and Veera became more aware of their presence, and slowed to a halt. _

_ The older couple were visibly exhausted, but glanced at each other in relief, before hesitantly stepping towards the younger Time Lords, hands raised, as if approaching a frightened animal.  _

_ Veera collapsed into her former mentor’s arms as soon as she was approached, and had to be carried back onto their ship.  _

_ Korvai was barely aware of this, or even of his own mentor cupping his chin and brushing the dirt off his face, and guiding him onto the ship. _

_ No sooner had they left the ground than Korvai and Veera descended into a fitful sleep. _

\---

“Well, this has been fun,” the Toymaker grinned jovially, “but I’m afraid time’s getting on. A notion that must be just a  _ little _ confusing for you two, since you just lived out two thousand years in your heads.” 

Veera’s head jerked up, sending the metal circlet clattering across the floor. She took her hands from Korvai’s brow as if she'd been scalded, and glared daggers at the entity that was looking down at them in amusement. 

Around them, their (perhaps former) friends were also wearily pushing themselves to an upright position.

Korvai’s eyes widened, stealing a glance at the young woman. She sharply looked away, her ears as hot and red as Korvai’s face felt. “Oh, yes, you had the same dream,” The Toymaker confirmed. “Wasn’t it beautiful? The Defier and the Warlock! And dear me, wasn’t it revealing?”

“What do you mean? You wrote it,” Veera glared.

“Oh no, rather not,” the Toymaker replied. “I simply engineered locations and events. That whole  _ love story _ came from you. And I must say, I’m far from disappointed.”

Even more heat rose to Korvai’s forehead. “Go to hell.”

“In front of the Warlock? My, my, how cruel,” The Toymaker returned. “Well, as enjoyable as this has been, I’m getting bored of you young ones. So our next game is very simple.” He waved his hand, and the back wall spun around to reveal an array of computers and communicators. “First one to successfully call one of the Deca wins. And they get the best prize,” his eyes twinkled. “They get to go home.”

Korvai’s blood ran cold.

“That’s why we’re really here, isn’t it?” Sahna accused. “You’ve just been toying with us this whole time.”

“Oh, my poor, sweet Sahna,” The Toymaker murmured. He raised a hand towards her cheek, but she jerked backwards. “Well, I’ll leave you to discuss strategy. The game will commence in five minutes. Oh, and one more thing.” He smiled. “The room is set up to mildly shock you should you demonstrate thirty seconds of inactivity. Just to keep you on task. Good luck!”

“We can’t contact them,” Romana stated resolutely as soon as the Toymaker left. “It’s a trap.”

“Yes, well, I don’t know about yo,u but I don’t want to be shocked every thirty seconds,” Taloro replied hotly, still wincing in pain.

“I’m sorry,” Veera told her softly.

“You did what you had to do,” Taloro replied crisply. 

“We all would have done the same,” Joss added. “Hell, we were all trying to do as much, as soon as we were able.” 

“Thanks,” Korvai said softly. He'd been worried that his friend would have held his actions against him, but Joss seemed to understand. 

“Doesn't mean I'm not going to give you a hard time later,” Joss shot back with a twisted smile.

Korvai amended his thoughts. His and Veera’s acts were forgiven, but not forgotten, it seemed. 

“This is lovely,” Lorzo said briskly, “but what are we going to do?” She was restless, and she tapped her foot incessantly—whether from impatience, or the leftover electricity coursing through her system, Korvai couldn't tell. “We've got less than five minutes, now, until we have to at least look like we're doing something. And I don't know about you, but I want to get out of here.”

“She's right,” Jazzlin chimed in. “And the Deca are all trained, and have far more experience than we do. They'd be able to get out of this more easily than us.”

“You're asking us to betray our mentors!” Veera protested. 

“Of all the things you've done today,  _ that's _ the one you baulk at?” Adross said incredulously. “Trust me, we all know what you'd do to get back safely, and this doesn't even come close to that.”

“We did it to save your lives!” Korvai shouted. “We could save you, but only if we did—"

“Yeah, because I feel  _ soo _ safe right now,” Lorzo interrupted scathingly. 

“Stop this right now!” came a sharp voice, cutting off the growing argument before it could crescendo to full strength. All eyes turned to the person who'd spoken—Sahna. The last shock had hit her hard, and she stood braced on Romana's arm, but her voice was steady and clear. 

“We are not selling out my mother, or my mother's friends,” Sahna said firmly. “But we are going to get out of here. And we can't do that if we use up all our planning time squabbling!”

The cacophony dissipated.Korvai released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Veera didn’t; despite her words, Sahna was still stoutly avoiding looking at Veera.

“Thank you, Sahna,” Romana began, once an appropriate level of quiet had been reached. “I think we all agree that summoning the Deca isn’t an option, correct?” The others nodded. “So here’s what we need to do,” Romana continued. “We’ll send out messages all over to the universe, however, we shall send them to dead receptors. Databases and servers which haven’t been used in centuries. We all took elementary virtual architecture, did we not? It shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. Does everyone agree with that?” They nodded. “Good, now let’s get to work.”

A minute later, the Toymaker reentered the room, and the timer started.

The group raced into action, each person taking up a position by one of the stations.

“You can work separately or as a team in this game,” the Toymaker called. “I'm not going to make you poor things stab each other in the back again, you did that so very well in the first round. And my, it was revealing to see how quickly you turned, and on whom.”

At those words, Sahna turned her head sharply away from Veera as her shoulders rose defensively, the young woman huddling in on herself. Noticing how her friend shrank back, Veera pinned the Toymaker with a glare that would have melted steel, to which the being just smiled prettily in response. 

“I wouldn't be wasting valuable time if I were you, Veera dearest,” he cooed. “I'm being oh so generous in letting you all work together, but remember—there can still only be one winner.”

\---

The timer began, and immediately the young Time Lords got to work. Usually, they would have worked together, however the last “game” had frosted over their camaraderie. They worked on their own, occasionally assisting each other where required. Every minute or so, somebody’s head was thrown back in a blood-curdling scream, a rate that increased as the game wore on. 

Korvai himself had been shocked five times already, when he missed his deadline by only half a second.

The shock hit him, like a micro-bullet in his forehead, spreading across his face, head, neck and body, with a greater intensity than he’d ever felt before.

This shock lasted longer than the others—it was a full minute before he was thrown backwards, collapsed on the floor, unable to rise.

“And we have a winner!” The Toymaker grabbed Korvai by the arm and hauled him up, lifting his hand and above his head. “Korvai, my boy!”

“What? What, no!” Korvai glanced at the shocked faces around him. “I didn’t. I swear I didn’t.”

“Oh, but you did!” the Toymaker smiled.

Korvai glared. “I’d rather die than bring the Doctor to you.”

“Oh, the Doctor? I think we all know he’s not your real dad,” the Toymaker replied. “Look at you, all noble and pure, and you were the first one to fall. Like father, like son, after all.”

Korvai’s eyes widened. “What? No! The Master?”

“The very same.”

Korvai stared ahead, preferring the Toymaker’s gloating face a million times over to whatever expressions were on those on his friends.

“Joke’s on you, if you think he’ll come,” he spat.

“We’ll see,” the Toymaker shrugged, shoving him out of the way. Veera and Sahna surged forward to catch him. “Nonetheless, you won, so it’s time for you to collect your prize.” The air in front of him grew warm, and a dark purple opening appeared. “Off you go, then. Say hi to the Doctor for me!”

Korvai glanced between the teleport, the Celestial Toymaker, and the two young women supporting his weight. Without a moment’s hesitation, he used the last of his strength to detach himself from Sahna and shove her through the teleport.

\---

The Galactic Emergency Services were unable to locate the missing Time Lords, and were able to offer no insight into what had become of them. All they had succeeded in was confirming the disappearance of several more; all young Time Lords who were important to at least one member of the Deca. The bride, groom and rest of the nine of ten of the Deca sat, stood, paced, slept, existed alone in the old hall that had recently and yet so long ago been filled with friends, love, laughter and joy. 

Their once ornate, beautiful gowns and robes had become as dishevelled as those who wore them. Computers, transmitters and communicators lay all around, as the half-dead Time Lords despondently but desperately continued to search for a lead.

By now, it had been several hours since their children had disappeared without a trace. They were almost comatose when the tenth member of the Deca crashed through the door, with what looked like a bodybag slumped over his shoulder.

“Theta—" the Master gasped breathlessly. “I know where Korvai is. Where they all are.”

The Doctor rose to his feet, aiming an ice cold glare at the other man, and swore loudly.

“Explain,” Ushas demanded.

The Master took the small figure off his shoulder and passed her to Theta Sigma. Patience was at his side immediately, uncovering the figure’s head, although she already knew what she’d see.

“Sahna,” Patience breathed. The bride and groom collapsed to their knees, cradling their child. 

“She’s alive, she’s just taken a nasty fall,” the Master assured them. “She’ll be fine.”

“How did you find her?” Theta asked.

“She was dropped from a teleport on top of me,” the Master replied. “Now, would you like to know where your beloved proteges are or not?”

“Yes!” Drax spat.

Uncharacteristically for the Master, there were no riddles, no gloating teases. “The Celestial Toymaker has them,” he replied soberly. “I have the coordinantes.”

“How the hell did you find that out?” Jelpax asked. “And is that where Sahna came from?”

“I can guess, but I don’t know,” the Master replied.

“Koschei.” Mortimus growled. “How. did you get. The coordinates.”

The Master glanced at the Doctor. “Theta’s going to kill me.”

“You missed my wedding,” the Doctor replied. “I’m already going to kill you.”

The Master sighed. “Psychic link. It just allows me to check in with him occasionally, see how he’s doing.”

The Master had expected Theta to take the news badly. He had not, however, expected to be grabbed by the collar and thrown against the wall.

“How. Dare. You,” the Doctor growled.

“Theta!” Jelpax exclaimed whilst Drax and Rallon held him back.

“He formed a psychic link, without consent!” the Doctor shouted, trying to get free. “You had no right…”

“He’s my son!” the Master shot back.

“You lost the right to call him that a long time ago,” Theta returned.

“Who says I didn’t gain his consent?”

“Oh, don’t try that one on me,” the Doctor snarled. “You never would. And besides, you haven’t seen him for years--even decades. When would you have got his consent?”

“Fine,” the Master grumbled. “It was after he regenerated for the first time. He was still underage, so I  _ technically  _ didn’t need consent.”

The Doctor glared. “Hold on. You didn’t believe me all those times he got into a ridiculous amount of trouble when he was my apprentice.”

“It only activates when he reaches a certain level of distress,” the Master explained. “It’s never activated before, which means…”

“Whatever’s happening right now is very, very bad.” Rallon finished grimly.

The Doctor was about to reply, when Sahna stirred. Immediately, Theta was beside his wife and step-daughter. 

“Sahna! Are you okay? What happened? Where are the others?” 

The Doctor was frantic with worry, his questions falling over themselves in his haste to ask everything.

“Theta! Take a step back, and let her breathe,” Patience commanded, unusually sharp. She turned back to her daughter, whose eyes had just fluttered open. “It’s okay, love, it’s okay,” she soothed gently, seeing the panic flare in Sahna’s eyes as she awakened fully. “You’re with us. You’re safe.”

“…Mum?” Sahna asked hesitantly. Her voice was thin, and her tone wary--as if she couldn’t quite bring herself to believe that she was safe. 

“Oh, my Sahna,” Patience breathed in relief, gathering the girl close. “Yes, it’s me. Theta’s here too. All of us are.”

Sahna looked around, her gaze settling on the familiar faces of the Deca. “Doctor? Millennia? ... _ Koschei _ ?”

Her eyes flicked back to the Doctor, then to Patience, then widened in dismay. “Your wedding--!” she exclaimed. “It’s still your wedding day! Oh, Mum, Doctor, I’m sorry—"

“Don’t you dare apologise,” Patience whispered fiercely. “None of this is your fault. And the wedding is neither here nor there--Theta and I are still married, and stars know we can have a fancy dinner another day. That’s not what’s important. All that matters is that you’re safe.”

The barest hint of a smile flickered on Sahna’s face, faint and trembling, and she hugged her mother tight.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Patience murmured, voice muffled.

“Sahna?” the Doctor asked gently after a moment. “I don’t want to drag you back there, but we need to know. What happened to the others?”

Sahna met his eyes for a second, then looked away. “I’m not sure. There were these… games, the Toymaker made us play. He wanted us to contact you, we figured out a way so that we could send messages into blank space. The first person to contact the Deca got to go free.”

“Oh, Sahna,” Patience breathed. “You made the right choice. Now we at least have a lead.”

“No,” Sahna pressed on. “I didn’t - none of us did. Until the Celestial Toymaker did something to Korvai and then he.. said that Korvai had won, and that he’d contacted Koschei, not Theta. Korvai didn’t - he had no idea, he didn’t mean too…” She took a long breath. “When the Toymaker opened up… the portal - Korvai shoved me through instead. But they don’t want you to come.” Using what little strength she still had, she glanced around at the eleven older Time Lords. “He wants to bring you down. All of you.”

“All of this, just for us,” Koschei murmured, but those who knew him best could hear and see his distressed tells. “But he won’t succeed, right?”

“You’re planning on ignoring your son’s wishes yet again?” the Doctor sniped.

“You have a better plan?” the Master snapped, and the Doctor could see Korvai’s pain, reflected through the psychic link, flash in his eyes. It was taking a lot for him to stay there and work with the others, rather than just haring off on his own. “Besides, you say that like you haven’t been acting like a bear with a wasp under its tail for the past few hours. It’s not a matter of respecting his wishes anymore, it’s getting them all home safe, whatever it takes.”

The Doctor muttered something under his breath, then subsided. His old friend--ex-friend, he corrected himself--was right. They both knew that he’d do anything to rescue his protege and the others. “You’ve got the coordinates, don’t you?”

Koschei nodded briskly.

“Then let’s go. Don’t bother telling me, you can put them straight into my TARDIS. Are the rest of you coming, or what?”

“Wait,” Rallon interrupted, unusually commandingly. “Every one of his ‘captives’ is a highly talented, experienced Time Lord. So much so they’ve found a way to discreetly contact us—"

“Not that they’ve told us anything useful,” Drax muttered darkly,

“And get Sahna out of there, and back to her mother,” Rallon continued, as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “So let’s not underestimate them, they can handle themselves.”

“You’ve never been trapped in that place, Rallon,” the Doctor said darkly.

“But I have,” Millennia said. “Thete, your former apprentice has been through hell. He can handle this,” she told him gently. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is our chance to take down the Celestial Toymaker for once and for all.” She glanced around the room. “All of us, the entire Deca, together again. One last mission.”

“Far be it for me to suggest there’s anything we can’t do,” the Master drawled, leaning back on the barstool, “but the Celestial Toymaker doesn’t exactly play by the rules. He’s existed since before the dawn of time. He sees all of time, matter, and space, and twists it, for no purpose other than to play his little games.”

“He’s never gone against the whole Deca before,” Jelpax replied. “Besides, I have an idea to even our odds.”

Ushas raised an eyebrow. “Care to share?”

“The Untempered Schism,” Jelpax replied. 

The Master chuckled mirthlessly. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“We’re not children anymore,” Jelpax replied. “I think we can handle it. But I’d never ask any of you to do this. I fared the best out of all of us, all those years ago. I’ll do it.”

Millennia studied him. “Jelpax, you don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Jelpax smiled. “But like you said, this is our chance to bring the Toymaker down, for once and for all. To end trillions of years of suffering. So let’s give it everything we’ve got.”

“Jelpax,” Magnus interrupted, “stop. We won’t let you do this.”

“I’ll go with him,” Vansell volunteered quickly. “I can provide an anchor and—take over, if need be.”

“Okay,” Millennia nodded. “I can live with that.”

“Millennia and I will take the frontal assault. We’ll go in,” Rallon added. “It’s our plan, we wouldn’t charge anyone else with it.”

“I’m coming with you,” the Doctor said darkly. “You need at least three for a frontal assault.”

“It’ll be covert, a big team would not be advisable,” Rallon replied.

“So three’s the perfect number,” the Doctor smiled thinly.

“You’re not the only one with a protege in there, Theta,” Ushas told him hotly. “I have a better idea. The four of us will go in together. Then we split up, Theta can go find our apprentices because stars know he won’t be able to focus on anything else, Rallon and Millennia can find the Toymaker, and I’ll stay hidden, do as much scouting as I can and be ready to provide backup to whoever needs it. I think once Theta’s got everyone free, there’ll be more than enough soldiers on the inside. 

Drax held out his hand to the Master. “Hacking bros again, Koschei?” 

The Master ignored his hand. “We’ll bring his whole world down,” he agreed, “and keep an eye on everyone on the inside.”

“Magnus and I will pilot the backup ships from the outside, and run interference,” Mortimus added. 

A weak voice interrupted their discussion. “Be careful, all of you,” Sahna said, from where she sat supported by Patience. “The Toymaker… he was a step ahead of all of us. He forces everyone to play by his rules, and he changes them whenever he likes.”


	9. The Doctor's Apprentice - Chapter Seven

The frontal assault team had been in position for almost an hour before their earpieces chimed.

“You’re good to go,” Drax informed them, his voice shaking.

“We’re going to get them back, Drax” Ushas promised. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Drax replied, pushing down the image of Joss’s mangled body that kept resurfacing in his mind's eye. 

“How’s Jelpax holding up?” Millennia asked.

“I’m in position,” Jelpax’s voice answered. “And… woah. I can see everything. But Vansell’s keeping me anchored.”

“Good,” Rallon nodded. “We’re going in.”

There were no more words exchanged, only meaningful looks and sharp gestures, as the assault team raced through the fortress. All too soon, it was time to go their separate ways. Only then did they turn to each other to say goodbye, but they found there was nothing to say.

\---

Hours after Sahna had left them, when the Toymaker finally tired of his torture, the younger group of Time Lords found themselves slumped, breathless, on the floor of a windowless room.

Tense silence hung over the group, until Jazzlin and Lorzo exchanged startled glances.   
“The Deca are here,” Lorzo informed them all miserably. “Ushas  _ finally _ responded to our telepathic signalling.”

“They’re planning to try and take down the Celestial Toymaker,” Jazzlin added.

“But they won’t, they can’t, on their own,” Julio interjected frantically. “Did you tell them they can’t?”

“Repeatedly,” Jazzlin answered. “Which, predictably, didn’t faze them.”

“I’m assuming they didn’t get council approval?” Romana asked sardonically.

“I assume so too,” Lorzo replied. “We didn’t ask.”

“I was hoping we’d have more time to plan something,” Veera fumed. 

Korvai raised his gaze. “What have you got in mind, Warlock?” By the time he’d realized what he was saying, it was too late. 

Fortunately, Veera appeared unfazed. “Well, unless we want the Toymaker to turn them and us permanently into his toys,  _ and _ / _ or _ the Council to show up and arrest them all, we’ve got to do something. We don’t exactly have anything to lose, and, well, we’ve got a lot to gain.”

Korvai’s brow furrowed. “The Deca don’t have much chance of taking down the Celestial Toymaker on their own,” he mused, “but if we join them, attack from the inside, attack the Toymaker on all fronts--” 

His tone lightened considerably, saplings of his characteristic drive and passion creeping back in. “We can take down the Toymaker, once and for all.”

Veera grinned. “That’s the Defier I know.”

“Hold up,” Joss interrupted. “What’s this Warlock Defier thing?”

Korvai and Veera shrank back. “The--Vision, we shared,” Korvai began to explain to his childhood friend. “That the Toymaker gave us. We were ma--older,” he said, hastily correcting himself. “And we… we had titles. We kept our names, but had titles, too--I was the Defier, and she was the Warlock. I don’t know what it means, or why we had them, but…”

Joss blinked at him. “Right, okay.” He knew there was something Korvai wasn’t telling him, but now really wasn’t the time to press the matter. “So what do we do?”

“And what are they going to do?” Julio asked. “If we know what their plan is, we can help them out. Lorzo, can you get through to Ushas?”

“Let’s see if she replies,” Lorzo said grimly. 

“Nope. She just told us to sit tight,” Jazzlin said.

“Well, tell her that’s not happening!” Veera insisted.

“Already did,” Jazzlin informed her. “She says that Mortimus and Magnus are running interference from their ships, Drax and Kochei are, quote, “hacking bros”, Ushas, Millennia, Rallon and Theta Sigma are the frontal assault team and, quote, we “don’t need to worry” about what Jelpax and Vansell are doing.”

“As if they’ve got the most juicy roles,” Taloro mused. 

“I… might be able to contact the Master,” Korvai confessed, “since it appears he’s formed a link with me at some point, without my consent.”

“Everything about your childhood is tragic,” Veera muttered. 

Korvai glanced at her--she knew some of the details, but he’d never told her much. Except—in the vision, he’d told her everything. And she still remembered everything about him, just as he knew everything about her. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Korvai said grimly. “I’m getting it removed as soon as we get home.”

Joss placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t bother. I have a link with Drax, and they’re working together. There’s no reason you have to use your link too.”

“Thanks,” Korvai grimaced. 

“Anyone else have secret illegal psychic bonds with their mentors?” Romana asked.

“Me,” Julio entered weakly. “I have one with Millennia.”

“And I have one with Mortimus,” her friend Alleeva added.

“Good. Get in touch with them.” Veera ordered.

Korvai grinned proudly.  _ That’s my wife _ . Except, well, no, it wasn’t.

“Ushas says Theta is coming to find us, and to at least stay put until he gets here,” Lorzo informed the others. “We’d better do that lest he go crazy and tank the whole operation.”

Korvai groaned. “Again, his embarrassing overprotectiveness is my downfall.”

“Hey, if you were my apprentice, I’d be overprotective too,” Alleeva smirked. 

“Alright, we’d better wait for Theta then,” Veera conceded.

“Ushas also said that Rallon and Millennia are going to confront the Toymaker,” Lorzo added. “She’s staying hidden to scout around and provide backup wherever it’s needed.

“On their own?” Julio’s eyes widened. “They’ll never—they can’t—"

“Can you locate Millennia with your link?” Romana asked Julio, who nodded. “Then go. I’ll come with you.”

“Me too,” Veera added.

“Nope. We need you here, team leader,” Korvai refuted.

Veera raised an eyebrow. “Team leader?”

“Well you’ve been doing the job, and pretty well, too,” Alleeva said. “Besides, Theta Sigma will freak if he doesn’t find you here with Korvai. I’ll go with them.”

“So will I,” said Jazzlin, “so we’ve got communication between groups. I’m linked to Lorzo as well as Ushas.”

“Okay, that’s a good team. Now, go!” Veera commanded, and the team began to leave. 

“So,” Taloro broke the silence, once Julio and her party had filed out of the room. “Are we just supposed to sit here and wait?”

“Oh, Theta won’t be long,” Lorzo snorted. 

Minutes later, the man in question crashed into the room, taking stock of the younger Time Lords who sat silently, crumpled on the ground. He rushed immediately to Korvai and Veera, who were sitting together, apart from the rest of the group.

“Oh, stars, what did he do to you,” Theta Sigma breathed.

The barest hint of a grin lit Korvai’s face. “You took your time, old man. You look terrible.”

Theta sighed. “I couldn’t possibly look worse than you.” By now, the rest of the group had gathered around, so Theta resisted the urge to pull his and his wife’s former apprentices into his arms. “Come on, you lot. There’s a passage leading to an exit in the next room, and my TT Capsule is waiting there for us. Let’s get you out of here.”

“Not on your life,” Korvai shot back. “We’re going to fight the Toymaker with you. We only stayed put to keep you from freaking out.”

“Four of our own have already gone to find Rallon and Millennia,” Lorzo added.

“Who?” Theta asked.

“Julio, Romana, Jazzlin and Alleva,” Veera replied. “We have… contact with them, and they have contact with Millennia.”

“You mean the apparent prevalence of illegal psychic links?” the Doctor bristled. “Well, good. The six of them should be able to get out safely. Look, I know you want to help, I get it. But the primary purpose of this mission is getting you all home safely. And none of you are in any condition to go up against the Toymaker right now, and I think you know that.” His gaze softened, and flickered again to Korvai and Veera. “Please. It’s my wedding day.”

Veera’s eyes hardened. “Okay. But only if the Deca retreats as well.”

The Doctor nodded. “That’s already in motion, now that I’ve found you. I’ve confirmed that with Vansell and Mortimus. There’s no need to go deeper, and Rallon and Millennia are already on their way out.

“Jazzlin, Julio and the others have already made contact with Millennia,” Lorzo added. “Mental contact, I mean. They have a way out.”

“Okay,” Veera nodded, her eyes narrowing. “Just one more thing. Next time you go against the Toymaker, we’re coming with you.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Theta smiled.

The group walked on in silence until they finally reached the exit. They leapt out of the accursed ship, desperate to breathe in the fresh air, to see daylight again. 

But there was not a smile on every face.

“The TT Capsule!” The Doctor pulled at his hair, and began to pace. “Where is it?”

As if in response, an ominous red glow appeared around Theta’s wrists and ankles. “Theta Sigma,” a computer generated voice boomed. “You are under arrest for attempting an unauthorized mission. We have Mortimus, Magnus, Drax and the Master already in custody. Your current companions are to be taken into emergency medical custody. Resistance is futile.” 

“What? No!” Korvai exclaimed. He tried to surge forward, but Veera grabbed his arm. Moments later, a similar, green glow appeared around the former prisoners at the front of the group, and spread backwards. 

Before the green glow could reach them, Korvai grabbed Veera’s hand, their eyes locking. No words were needed. Korvai reached out and tapped his old friend Lorzo on the elbow and jerked his head back to inform her of their plan, and, missing the green glow by a millisecond, the three of them ran back into the ship.

\---

In a different part of the Toyroom, Julio frowned, and turned to her companions. 

“Did you hear that?” she asked. “It sounded like…”

“Transporter beams activating,” Jazzlin finished. “Yeah, I did.”

“So the others must be safe,” Julio said with a sigh of relief. “Thank the stars, I wasn't sure.”

Jazzlin frowned. “But we're still here.”

“I'm sure Millennia and Rallon have a way to get out of here,” Romana said. “We'll find a way to rig it to fit all of us.” With a meaningful look at Julio, she added, “So we just have to find them.”

“I'm on it,” Julio said, a slight note of annoyance in her voice. “But the link is… it's weird, like it's acting up. The signal is faint, and fading--and sometimes it flickers out entirely. There's something wrong here, but I think there's still enough in the link for me to find her.”

Carefully, they made their way through the labyrinthine corridors that webbed through the Toyroom.

“I've got a bad feeling about this,” Alleeva muttered. 

“We'll be fine,” Romana replied briskly, as Julio announced, “Through here!”

‘Here’ turned out to be an ominous-looking door set in the heart of the Toyroom. Alleeva, at a nod from Romana, reluctantly bent to the lock and started working on opening it.

Seconds later, Julio inhaled sharply, clapping her hands to her temples. She slowly sank to her knees.

“Julio!” Jazzlin cried, at her friend's side in an instant. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“The bond inverted,” Julio was able to gasp. “The polarity of the neuron flow reversed, somehow, and I can feel Millennia’s feelings.”

“And?” Romana asked, fearing the worst. 

Julio’s next words confirmed it. “Nothing good. Anger, grief…”

The stakes set somehow even higher, Alleeva worked the lock furiously, trying everything she had to get the door open. Finally--after hours, it felt like--the door gave way, swinging open to reveal three figures in a glimmering stained-glass chamber. The tableau before them was silhouetted dark against the sparkling walls: the Toymaker standing triumphant; Millennia on her knees, distraught; and Rallon--Rallon was the worst of all, crumpled on the ground in an unnatural position, his head cradled in Millennia’s hands as his lover wept over his lifeless body.

The four young Time Lords burst in on this scene and froze, horrified, as the weight of what they were seeing settled on them. Rallon was a trained Time Lord operative, one of the Deca, their best and brightest--and even still, the Toymaker had defeated him utterly. They realised, then, that everything they’d been through before was just the Toymaker playing with them--the being was near godlike in power, ruthless to the core, and gleeful in his sadism. All thoughts of capturing him were forgotten--it would take too high a cost. They needed to rescue Millennia, and escape.

Trying not to draw the Toymaker’s attention, Romana signalled discreetly to the others. But even that small movement was enough, and the Toymaker’s head snapped towards them. Seeing them, he smiled in wolfish delight, sending a chill down the spines of the four. With panic building in her veins, and the element of surprise lost, Julio screamed out to her mentor.

“Millennia,  _ run _ !”

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the Epic a dear friend and I have been creating since 2016.  
> It's been a wild ride and we're excited to take you on this journey with us.
> 
> We're aiming for weekly updates - more details on this to follow.


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